Final project
by MissMary
Summary: Sam is racing his mortality to finish a final project, but when he is forced into space, the fight over who will benefit from it begins.
1. Chapter 1

Final Project

Final Project is the final story in the Download/My face not in the mirror/Reunion cycle. However, like all the other stories, it can be read on its own.

I do not own Transformers, I just like to mess with Hasbro's and the movies' ideas.

Chapter One

Ronnie did not want to have this conversation. He was a soldier, and action instead of words had always been more in his line. He would have preferred that anyone else have this talk-but there were only so many people Ironhide would listen to, and Ronnie was on the top of the human list. At times like this Ronnie really missed his mother- but if his mother was still alive, she'd have stopped this problem before it happened. He sighed.

Everyone else- everyone human- had already seen the writing on the wall and eased up on Dad. The only ones that did not- or as Ronnie and his siblings strongly suspected, would not- see the problem were the bots. For that matter, given the choices, he'd prefer to talk to Ironhide rather than Prowl, like Jimmie, or Ratchet, like Jeremy. Poppy had really drawn the short straw. She had to talk to Optimus. Oscar had the next worse, with Bumblebee. They had all agreed that after those had been warned, Minnie would talk to Bluestreak. That would take care of everyone else. There was no question whatsoever about that; tell Bluestreak and you told the base. They had also agreed that all of them would speak to the bots on the same day. Ronnie knew this was going to be the best chance he was going to get.

Ironhide stood reviewing the obstacle course, probably making plans. In an inhabited area, the best defense a human had was to run and dodge. For absolutely decades, Ironhide set up the obstacle course for Ronnie's father and made sure he ran it at least twice a week. That was part of why this would be so hard. "Hey, 'Hide," Ronnie called.

The large bot looked over his shoulder at his liaison with the NEST team and humans in general. "Hello, Ronald," the warrior rumbled. "I'm trying to figure out where the sparklings made changes matter how many times I've told Slag to keep those brats away from the course, they get in and make changes, and I never know what to expect." Ironhide made it sound like he hated the sparklings, when he was one of the few caretakers their teacher trusted to keep them. The bot poked in and looked around the fake buildings again, looking for false exits.

Ronnie sighed. "That's kind've what I've come to talk to you about. If you're going to change it, you might as well do it for the kids." Despite the fact that the sparklings were as tall as he and probably stronger, Ronnie and the other Witwicky relatives called the sparklings 'kids' and the bots, amused, allowed it. In a way, Ronnie thought, they're related to me. Dad was part of creating them.

That did get Ironhide's attention. "What do you mean? If your father is refusing to run this again, I'll have Bumblebee nag him. He-"

"It's not Dad, Ironhide, it's Sheena." Sheena was Dr. Sheena Anderson, the head of the infirmary for the base. "Dad's getting too old." There, he'd said it. The one thing the bots never wanted to hear, tried to deny, collectively, even though it was increasingly clear to the humans who loved him. The ability of the 'presence' to hold off the aging was fighting a losing battle with the human body it was dealing with. "He just can't keep going the way you guys keep expecting him to," he went on. "Dad's ageing faster. I know that for the last few months, he's only been able to keep doing this," Ronnie indicated the obstacle course," because the kids are helping him out. He finally got dragooned into a physical this year-"

"After healing everyone in the infirmary after a major battle? He was flat on his back for two days. Sheena just nailed him down while he was there. Not that I'm not grateful. I got part of that blast too."

"He's the age equivalent of Will Lennox when he died," Ronnie said. Will Lennox was Ironhide's special friend when the bots first came to Earth. Decades ago he died in a sudden massive heart attack, the first human close to the bots to die of non-combat or accident causes. As Ronnie expected, that reminder got Ironhide's attention. Ironhide said nothing for a time. Then the large bot transformed, and the door opened in the large truck. Ronnie got in. "Don't go anywhere," Ronnie said.

"The meadow?"

"Poppy's talking to Optimus there. Oscar has Bumblebee at the energon storage, Jeremy has Ratchet in the infirmary…"

"So we're all getting the word at the same time. Does your father know about this?"

"Sheena's told him what I'm telling you. I knew he's been trying to think of a way to talk to all of you. He didn't tell us, but he gave Sheena permission to talk to us a long time ago, and she's worried. Dad's babysitting Minnie and Oscar's kids right now." There was a moment of silence. "Look, I'm not saying Dad is going to die tomorrow. He just can't work as hard as he used to when he was younger. If he doesn't slow down soon, he's going to break down." He still works with Optimus on the high level stuff with Annabelle and Minnie, Ronnie thought. He's been up to his elbows with Bert working on those new energy devices. He wants to spend time with us and his great-grandkids, and then he's worn out. He needs to sleep more now, and he gets tired faster." He needs to stay in shape and everything, but he shouldn't do this kind of rough physical stuff anymore, Hide. He should have the right to choose what he wants to do, which right now is work on the space energy devices." Not to mention spending more time with his growing family, Ronnie added silently.

"How much longer does he have, Ronald?"

"How can anybody know? His parents died in their nineties, but they weren't in real good shape, nothing like Dad is." His grandfather was barely able to move due to his arthritis, and his grandmother had dementia so badly she often did not know Dad. "He could have another three or four decades left, if he takes care. He can work a full work week and keep in shape, but he can't work sixty to seventy hours anymore and not pay a price for it, and he shouldn't be doing the obstacle course anymore. Sheena said that for sure."

"But his safety…"

"Hide. At this point he's in more danger of hurting himself trying not to disappoint all of you than he is from not being able to run from the Decepticons. The presence in him can slow the aging, but it can't stop it. If you guys don't let up on Dad some now, he's going to die on you sooner. It's that simple."

There was silence from the truck. "What exactly do you suggest, Ronnie? And does Sam agree?"

You know damned well he'll give up the obstacle course, Ronnie thought.

"Dad'll agree. Optimus has to accept Minnie and her team instead of Sam in the liaison office. Annabelle told me that she's got her assistant at the point where she rarely needs Dad anymore."

Annabelle's comment to Minnie, passed on when Poppy assembled the family to try and deal with the situation, was "You know, for the first time since I've worked here, he looks as old as I do." Annabelle Lennox, sixteen years younger that their father, added with some right, "And about time, too." But Annabelle Lennox did not and never had looked her own age- always a decade or two younger.

"All the rest of you need to understand that Dad needs to slow down-not be coddled," the bots had gone through period of that and it drove his father nuts," but slow down. Dad's a vorn this year, remember? Most humans don't live that long, much less work fifty hours a week and run obstacle courses. Look it up if you don't believe me."

Silence, then "I know that humans don't live very long. I've seen too many of them die not to know, Ronald. I just hoped Sam- "and the bot fell silent again. It was the same with all the bots, Ronald knew. They wanted to believe that Ronnie's father would never age.

It occurred to Ronnie that Ironhide might not want to give up his time with Sam.

"If you're really worried about Dad defending himself, then maybe you need to work out some strategies for him," Ronnie suggested. "More time on the firing range, maybe."

The door opened, and Ronnie got out. Ironhide transformed. "Hmm. Maybe a new kind of weapon. Something smaller than what he has."

"That would work." Dad would like that, Ronnie thought. "That or improving his aim."

"Don't ask for too much," the weapons specialist grumped. Major Ronald Jasper Witwicky grinned, and in that moment Ironhide saw Sam Witwicky's mischievous side, shining clearly through in his youngest son.

* * *

Six months later, Sam told Bumblebee,"I don't know whether to kick Poppy or kiss her for that intervention." Bee was giving him a ride home from Research and Development, where Sam was spending most of his work time now. He still gave Minnie and her team a day a week.

"Why do you say that?' Bee asked. "I know that you don't run the obstacle course anymore and that Ironhide is working on a better laser weapon for you. I know you dropped your time with Minnie and her team to one day a week and that Annabelle's only called you once for help. Isn't that what you wanted? " Of all the family, Oscar had the easiest time; Bumblebee had already seen the strain on Sam. For a time Bumblebee stopped being Sam's guard because Sam almost never left the base, though the two remained close friends. When Sam started working with Research and Development, which was in the town and not on the base now, Optimus reassigned Bee. After some lengthy argument over what Sam needed, they worked out a routine, and Bumblebee picked up other duties.

The yellow bot looked Sam over, noting the changes that had occurred in the last few years. Sam's hair was almost completely white, and his face showed a few wrinkles. He could not move quite as quickly as he used to, and Bumblebee knew he tired faster than he used to. The change in work and the easing of strain told in Sam's more relaxed moods. He was much more cheerful now.

"Right, and Optimus isn't insisting that I supervise Minnie anymore; she's doing fine and so is her team. Annabelle says her assistant is doing fine. But every bot I run across is still looking me over, to see if I'm about to fall apart." They reached the bot's area of the base, and Sam got out. Bumblebee transformed. "Thanks for the ride. Do you want to go over to Poppy's with me later?" Sam insisted that he could move around on base safely, and bought a new sports flar of a very recent model. Bumblebee and the twins all immediately scanned it.

"I have patrol tonight," Bumblebee said with real regret. "I'm taking one of the sparklings with me, and Arcee's going to have the other two. How is the project coming?"

"Moving in leaps and bounds since I've been able to give it more time. That engineer I found on one of the chat rooms, Wheeljack, has been a real help, though some of the ideas he comes up with are a little on the wild side. He's on one of the space stations, if I understand him right, and his information's been helpful. Bert's been talking to another one, Perceptor, and he seems to be a little calmer, but some of the stuff he's come up with has been a little-out there. "

"Hmmm. Good," Bumblebee said. "I've got to go. You better move, too, or Arcee'll dump the sparklings on you again." Bee was being a little unfair. Every chance the sparklings got, they came over to see Sam as one way of sneaking away from their guardians, as Sam's add-on was one of the safest areas on the base. Sam included them as part of his family, and made sure he spent time with them several times a week.

Sam laughed, but he moved to the door pretty quickly. A few minutes later he emerged and got into his normal flar. He regularly spent evenings with various members of his family. Tonight he was going to Poppy's house, but Poppy was not going to be there long, All the great-grandchildren and Ronnie's kids were coming over, with Sam to ride herd on all of them while their parents enjoyed a night out. At this point his youngest grandchildren were in their teens, and the three great-grandchildren were three, two and eleven months.

When the grandparents and parents came home, all of the children, teens included, were sound asleep in various areas of the living room, and Sam was working on his e-mail. He looked cheerful and exhausted. Ronnie and Isabelle took a teen apiece as Minnie and Jeremy their two, and Oscar and his plump wife Carol gathered theirs. All of the various parents wondered just what Sam and the kids had been up to. The next week, Ronnie's daughter Lynette sent around a music video she had made from the pictures on her camera phone, taken by both the teenagers. Sam had started playing old music videos, and the eleven month old had started moving from foot to foot, in imitation of the videos' dancers. The three and two year old had joined in and Sam knelt down and held hands with all of them, one and two at a time, while they laughed and danced. The video ended when Sam swung the baby up in a circle, the baby still kicking, and both Sam and the baby laughing.

Sam got the video and smiled, and forgot about it. When Lynette asked for permission to enter it in a school contest, he gave her permission, telling her it was her creation and she could do what she liked with it.

The space solar energy battery was undergoing its first tests in simulated space. Sam could talk of nothing but how well the tests were going on the rides home in Bumblebee. At the end of the week came the day he worked with Minnie and her team. Today he was earlier than usual, having decided he could get coffee at the office instead of making it at home.

Once at the office, he found everyone huddled around a computer watching something. He dropped off his laptop at the desk he normally used, got his coffee, and headed over, curious to see what had everybody so intent. He could see Minnie in the middle of the huddle, and could see that what they were watching was a popular morning show that would show a music video sent in every morning. He maneuvered himself to an open area on the very edge of the group, just as the host introduced the video.

There the video of Sam and his great-grandchildren was, showing on live television. He watched the whole thing in complete disbelief, coffee untouched. At first the only thing he could think was how white his hair looked now. Everyone squealed and whooped and one or two of the more sentimental wiped their eyes, until Sam said, very clearly, "I am so going to kill Lynette." Everyone scattered in seconds, leaving Minnie to deal with Sam. Most of them knew from experience that it was hard to really get Sam angry, but when he was no one wanted to be in the blast range, and the rest followed their lead.

She had the sense to get him into her office. "But Lynette said you gave her permission. That's why the rest of us were okay with it."

"I did what?" He reviewed the last few e-mails he'd exchanged with his granddaughter. "I told she could enter it in a school contest, I know that- oh, crap." He considered. "I told her it was her video and she could do what she wanted with it."

"That's it?" Minnie said, and he could see her mind working.

"You thought she told me about this," he waved his hand at the vague area of the office where the television was. Minnie nodded. He whooshed out a breath. "How long before the fallout starts?" he asked rhetorically. His cell rang. He looked at the number. "Jimmie," he said in relief, and answered.

"Did you see the video?" Jimmie asked, his voice quivering with laughter. Sam growled into the phone. "I'll take that as a yes. Dad, she called me first, and I looked into it for her. They've got her name as the submitter, but she did not say who you were, and she's not required to for submitting the video as long as you knew it was being made. She told the producers that all the people in the video were in her family, which is true. There shouldn't be a problem. I ran it across Prowl, just to be sure, and he couldn't see a problem. Okay?"

"All right," Sam said. He rang off. "Lynette's off the hook, Jimmie cleared it with Prowl first. We better get our tails moving. We're going to be late as it is." Minnie looked at the time and got moving.

* * *

"How is the project coming?" Optimus asked when the general meeting was over. The meeting room was constructed for bots and humans, with the humans on a balcony. Sam and Optimus were the only ones left; the rest scattered to work on their various jobs. Sam was packing his laptop into his briefcase.

"The initial tests look good. We have to do some tweaking, but that's to be expected. Before too much longer, a prototype will be ready for field testing, and then it'll be out of my hands," Sam admitted. "We've talked to the company about training someone from them to work on that for us. Bert will go at first, to set up and train that person, and then he'll come home. Since he's gotten married, he doesn't want to stay out any longer than he has to." Sam sighed.

"What is it, Sam?"

"I'd love to go with them for that, "Sam admitted. "I've traveled all over the world, as you know, but I've never been to space, and I'd like to see it." He leaned against the rail. "I don't dare, but I can wish."

"I understand." In the last few years, Sam started going off base again. He began by visiting Sludge, Snarl, and Grimlock at Annabelle's ranch, and progressed to visiting Jimmie. He attended a few meetings for the company when Minnie was close to her due dates and none of her team members were trained enough, though he backed off on those once the team was a little more seasoned. When there were no incidents, he relaxed a little. "What do you intend to do while the project is being tested?"

"I'm going to take it to the next step, I hope. I'm going to look at a way to make energon from sunlight. You remember I started that, decades ago, and never got it to work? I wound up with the solar storage battery instead, and the energon process from the waste material. We just didn't have the technology then, the access to space we have now, and I got into the company administration when Dad couldn't do it anymore. I'm hoping that I can work from this project to make that work in the direct sunlight from space. "

Optimus considered the implications. "Is there a reason you're trying this again, Sam?" the Prime asked.

"The way we're making it is limited," Sam said simply. "Sooner or later, Optimus, this war is going to leave Earth. As long as the All-Spark is here, the war will be here, but the other reason it stays here is energon, and this way that problem is taken care of when the time comes."

"I am in no hurry, Sam. Even should you die, we would not leave Earth yet." How much does he know of the base we have in space? Optimus wondered. How much does he guess of what we never told him, when the All-Spark glows in him more and more strongly over the years, or is it the All-Spark driving him unknowing?

"No," Sam said, "and that's something I wanted to talk to you about, later. Can you spare me some time tonight?" They set a time before Sam picked up the briefcase he was packing while he talked and left.

That evening Sam met Optimus at the base entrance. Optimus was in his alt mode. The ride to the meadow was quiet. Sam was looking at the stars and thinking, and Optimus was remembering this same ride with Poppy in his cab. She had not been afraid of the Autobots from the day she yawned at Optimus from her mother's arms at two days old, and she tended to make her points with the verbal equivalent of a sledgehammer. The Prime hoped that the news Sam needed to discuss was less disturbing. They reached the meadow and went into the shield. Optimus contacted Prowl that they were not to be disturbed.

It was a moonlit night and the meadow was beautiful. Sam, wrapped in his coat against a cool night, took a deep breath and let it out. "I always think of Mikaela here," he murmured.

"She is here," Optimus said, and Sam shot the large bot an amused glance. Optimus was being literal. Her ashes were scattered here at her death. "It is peaceful tonight."

"Yes," Sam sighed. It was even better when I could come here without an escort, he thought. "Do the Decepticons still try to sneak around, or did Prowl's traps stop them?"

"How do you put it? In your dreams?" Optimus said, and Sam snorted. "The traps just make them more wary, though about five around Predator's size have been caught." Optimus was fairly sure that they came hoping to catch Sam or the sparklings alone or vulnerable again. The Prime settled himself onto the grass, and Sam perched on his leg.

Sam shook himself out of his musings. "Anyway, I wanted to talk about the status of the prototype Cube. It's not finished; that'll take a while yet. But that device of Ratchet's?" Optimus nodded. "I still wear it, and when I download, I put it on the prototype, too. It's sped the process some. Basically, the prototype reached the point that if I die suddenly, the All-Spark is anchored enough to return and complete the Cube."

Optimus considered what to say. Sam was right that the news was good, in that the future of all Cybertronians did depend on a new Cube and Sam had just told the Prime that future was assured. At the same time, Optimus worried about his human friend believing that he was not needed. As far Optimus was concerned, they would always need him. "Does this ease your burden a little, Sam? " His human friend nodded.

"Ever since I found out I had what I thought were only the memories I've worried what would happen to you guys if something happened to me," he said. "I don't see where this news makes any difference at all, Prime, except that we can dump one particular future worry. But after what happened with Swoop- if I had not had the device Ratchet put together," he stopped. That incident had interesting results. Swoop was banished to space, with instructions that should Sam ever go there and need it, the dinobot would help even if it was killed in doing so, and then reprogrammed so that it could not disobey- by the All-Spark.

"Ratchet was surprised that it made a difference," Optimus said, a polite way of referring to the medic's strutting.

Either Megatron would have gotten the Cube and the Autobots would be locked in a vicious war on the losing side again, Sam thought, or Swoop would have the Cube and the war would turn three sided. Neither would be a good thing for the humans on this planet. "I don't want to die," he said instead, knowing Optimus knew the possible results as well as he did. "At the same time, I want to know that if anything happens to me, my family-of both species- will be as settled as I can make them." He looked up at the sky. The thought crossed his mind that he just handed Optimus a reason to relax the Autobots' protection over him

As if the Prime heard the thought, it said, "But your family still needs you, Sam, both families. I would prefer that you keep to your usual precautions."

"No kidding? No, why don't I drop the shield right now?" Sam said dryly. "I think it might be interesting to see how long it takes a Decepticon to get here."

As if to answer their question, there was a roar. Both of them jumped up. "The energon storage!" Sam said.

Optimus said, "I have Prowl- his trap just caught something. " The Prime transformed and Sam scrambled in. The energon storage was close.

The next noise was a shriek that was not a Decepticon, but words, but the words were thrown together so fast no one could make them out. In the next few minutes everything was very mixed up, but eventually the tangle got sorted out. It helped when Optimus shot the Decepticon in the head, which got it off of Prowl, who was trying to release the trap that caught the badly frightened Autobot who had finally tracked them down. Optimus helped Prowl while calling for backup and Sam figured out how to release the new bot.

During the time Sam was patiently getting the trap loose, the bot talked in bursts of run together words. Sam would replay them in his mind, and respond to the questions. Yes, the bot had reached the other Autobots, and yes, they worked with humans, and yes, they had energon. No, the trap was set for Decepticons, because they had come here after the energon several times before and were looking for more ways in.

At this point the trap was off. Sam managed to jump back in time before the bot took off and fell over a tree. Before Sam could even manage a word, it was back up and complaining at fast forward that the ground was uneven. The bot was one of the smaller ones Sam had seen, a size close to Bumblebee. "Stay still and you won't fall over anything," Sam advised as the bot zipped off and fell again. "Have you chosen a designation? And can you slow down? You're moving so fast you're a blur." By that time First Aid showed up and the bots were all sent to the infirmary. Sam could not help but notice that Optimus quietly kept him from the injured Prowl, and sighed inwardly.

Months ago, there was a nasty battle at the energon plant, where a lot of bots were badly injured. There were a few NEST soldiers injured. Sam was in his add-on and went to the infirmary to help. When matters were settled there, he heard that Bumblebee had an injury that crippled the yellow bot temporarily. Sam went to see his friend in the bot infirmary and was speaking to the others on his way when he passed the room where the most injured were. Just as he went by, the spark to one of the bots began to waver suddenly. A fuel line ruptured unexpectedly when it moved the wrong way. Ratchet and First Aid were rushing over when Sam glowed hard enough to make them flinch back at the sudden light. It lasted over a minute.

When the light died, Sam fell flat on the floor curled in a fetal position, unable to move at all, and every bot in the infirmary was fixed. It took Sam several days to recover, instead of the few hours that followed the incident when they gained Sunstreaker. Sam did not particularly want to repeat the experience again. The bots wavered between awed at the display of power and dismayed at the cost to Sam. Sheena and Ratchet made him promise to stay out of the bot infirmary unless he cleared with Ratchet first. He agreed with the stipulation that Ratchet would contact him if a bot was too seriously injured to survive until Ratchet could repair it. After an argument that lasted for some time, Ratchet agreed. The download was still at the infirmary, but moved to a room where Sam did not have to pass the area where the injured were.

Since then the bots were careful not to let him too close to the injured. Ratchet believed that using the All-Spark energy was part of what was aging Sam, and the rest believed the medic enough that Sam was firmly discouraged from doing so. Sam was alternately annoyed and grateful. He disliked anyone trying to take his personal decisions from him; at the same time, using All-Spark energy hurt, and after the healing he was in bed in pain for most of the night, and weak enough to stay in bed for another two days. Considering that Sheena had to threaten and cajole to get him to stay in the infirmary overnight after one of his healings, that was a wake-up call to his family. Thus the intervention happened, and Sam had to endure every bot he knew examining him carefully for months, looking for signs of deterioration.

Most of Sam's family came over to see the new bot in the next few weeks. "He talks like Bluestreak," Poppy noted, while Blurr chased the sparklings around the courtyard.

"He does not," Minnie objected. "Bluestreak never sounded like he was on fast forward."

"No," Oscar admitted, "Blue just never stops talking period, like you used to."

"I resemble that remark," Bluestreak said from the other side of the add-on, where the youngest children were. Everyone laughed. Bluestreak found that the babies did not care if he never stopped talking, and loved watching them. The fears that Minnie would stop spending time with him once she had children died as soon as she placed her first baby in his hand for a few minutes and he realized that this new life was a part of Minnie's family- and so was Bluestreak.

Sam smiled, but he watched the new bot with his mind elsewhere. Like Prowl, Blurr had a hard time finding the Autobots, and Sam did not like that thought. He e-mailed Sludge to see if it had thoughts about making it easier for friendly bots to find them. Sludge had to tell him what Prowl already had, that there was no way to do that without a compromise of safety.

Sam could appreciate the problem; after all, the Decepticons were on the losing side of the war on Earth now. When the Autobots came to Earth, they were losing. The destruction of the Cube and Megatron had changed the war to a stalemate of a kind. After Egypt, when Optimus defeated the revived Megatron and the Fallen, the stalemate continued. The Autobots did not have enough troops, even with NEST, to do more than defend against Decepticon attacks.

When Sam, his father, and his friends built the company and the energon plants, the Autobots did gain an edge. Megatron's main advantage was more troops. While the Decepticons stole energon from the company's plants and used the hatchlings held by the Fallen, Megatron's troops had no energon source and there was a steady attrition rate. The hatchlings made strong but stupid troops and the older fighters off-lined faster without energon. The human backup NEST provided was critical. The shields over the strategic areas made it harder for the Decepticons to pull raids, and Prowl increased security to where the Decepticons were losing more in the raids than they were gaining in energon. In addition, the Cybertronians knew that Sam was the Cube, and that he worked with the Autobots. Decepticons began to desert, leaving Earth for space, and neutrals were better able to hide from the Decepticons if they did not want to join the Autobots.

The Decepticon's last successful raid was an all out attack that had taken Sam as well. Megatron held Sam for months, and forced him to acknowledge that he held the All-Spark. When Sam's family found him and he was rescued, there was a short, vicious battle at the base where Sam was held, and the rogue researcher holding Sam wounded Optimus. Megatron came after Sam and the sparklings with almost every troop it had on Earth, swearing that it would kill every living being there if Sam and the sparklings were not handed over to him.

The Decepticon leader's resounding defeat there turned the tide of the war. On the Decepticon side, only Megatron and Starscream left the field alive. Sam proved publicly that he chose the Autobots as the All-Sparks' protector by healing Optimus on the battlefield. Word of the sparklings spread. The Decepticons did not stop trying, but on Earth their strength was limited. There were rumors reported to Sludge from the neutrals that Megatron was considering retreat from Earth to space.

Sam could not help but wonder at that rumor. The last time Sam heard Megatron, the Decepticon leader told him that it had a use for him and a pen he could not escape. Somehow Sam did not believe Megatron would abandon Earth until it had the All-Spark, and right now, that meant Sam.

Then Slag showed up for the sparklings. Minnie and Oscar went to get their children ready to leave. Sam dismissed the matter from his mind for the time.


	2. Chapter 2

Final Project

I do not own Transformers, I only wish I did. Some action, folks.

Chapter Two

Several months later, he was walking out of the research building after work, mind on a problem with the project and looking for his ride. Ironhide was picking him up and they were going to look at the new weapon the specialist had designed. He spotted the truck, and headed for it before realizing he chosen a black truck but not Ironhide. He looked around, spotted Ironhide across the street, and tripped on the curb while turning. At the same time, a blast of air pushed him further and he fell to one knee, scraping his hand on the concrete. He felt something go over his head, ruffling his hair, even as he heard the sound of a transform and unmistakable mechanical snarl. He dove between the legs of the 'Con who came out of nowhere. The 'Con howled, grabbing again and missing, and Sam raced around the truck. He caught only a glimpse of the 'Con, and thought that the flier reminded him of Starscream. Ironhide fired and the 'Con disappeared.

Another blast of air and then Sam was staring at the ground racing by him. Something had him by the waist. He twisted, and saw the 'Con behind him. He was set down so fast he had to windmill his arms to stay upright, as Blurr zipped off. He realized he was in a set of trees, where he was harder to see from above. Hastily he backed into them before looking toward the battle. Ironhide had hold of the flyer, and Blurr was firing, but as he watched, the 'Con managed to get loose and took off, transforming as soon as he made it into the air.

Sam watched warily, but the trees that hid him hid the sky from him as well. Ironhide transformed and drove closer before opening its door. Sam raced over and climbed in as fast as he could. "Who the hell was that?" he panted, and examined his sore, bloody hand. "Am I crazy or did it teleport? Like the Fallen?"

"I can't speak for your sanity, but yes, he teleported." Ironhide was hauling for the base as fast as he could manage. "That was Skywarp, one of Starscream's trine. We thought he died a century ago, but now that I think back, no one ever saw a body. "

"Trine?" Sam texted Blurr a heartfelt thanks. He could see him in the rearview mirror, following them back. Blurr did not know the town well yet.

"Seekers like Starscream used to always be in threes on Cybertron, but we thought the other two were dead. Now I wonder. We never saw the bodies, just got the reports. I've got to get you under a shield. Thank Primus or any other deity you care to that Blurr was there, following me. I know the bot scanned your car as an alt, but the sports flar doesn't really suit him, and I told him to follow me to get used to the town a little and look for another alt. When Skywarp showed up behind you, I was sure you were gone. "

Now that he was safe, reaction was setting in and Sam desperately wanted to get home, get in a hot shower, and shake. "Take me home and let me get cleaned up," he said, "and then I guess we need to make a report." Then the significance of the new bot's abilities hit him. "Dammitall! Just when I think I've gotten out from under a little bit, here comes something else! "

Later than evening, Optimus and Prowl confirmed the problem. "As long as Skywarp knows anything about your routine, it's a danger," Prowl pronounced. "We thought that Jazz killed the other two of Starscream's trine, but Ironhide was certain the bot who went after you was Skywarp. If Starscream had been with him-"

"Ironhide and Blurr may not have been able to save you," Optimus said bluntly. "Even Megatron would hesitate to attack the three of them together, and two are formidable. I know you despise Starscream as a coward, Sam, but part of the reason for his cowardice is the loss of his two brothers."

"If even one of them is back, Starscream will be much worse," Prowl agreed. "If we are to keep you and the sparklings safe, we must take precautions."

The precautions were pretty simple. They just meant that Sam and the sparklings could not leave a building or an unshielded area without an escort. Sam was ready to scream his head off within a week, until Minnie suggested a walkway over the back entrance of the research building. Annabelle approved, and within two weeks Sam was able to walk to the escort without eyeing the sky. Bumblebee was ready to blow stream when the yellow bot discovered that he was out as guardian again, but a lecture from Prowl and a late night talk with his human friend after Sam had a bad nightmare calmed him. Picking Sam up from R&D became a rotating duty again, a precaution to keep any watchers from figuring out which car Sam drove and targeting it.

Once again, his family got him out of a tricky situation, but this time it was unplanned. Ironhide got Sam to the outside firing range the bots used, and showed him how the new laser worked. "You have to use it in bursts, not continuously," the weapons specialist warned, "or it will shut down to avoid melting in your hand." They spent over an hour with the new weapon, both of them as absorbed as a child with a new toy. Sam cleared the new weapon with Security and Annabelle and wore it when he went into town.

Meeting Poppy for lunch, he showed her the new laser and she squealed like a girl looking at an engagement ring. Then she nagged Sam until he agreed to let her fire it, but stipulated the bot's firing range and that she would have to make the arrangements.

He was not surprised-resigned, but not surprised- when Ironhide was there to meet them. The two of them had even more fun with the new gun than Sam had.

Then the presence in Sam sensed power, and moments later something exploded. The shield went down. Alarms went off everywhere. Ironhide grabbed Sam and ran for the building, just as Skywarp appeared beside them. The sound of a jet overhead added to the chaos. Ironhide fired at Skywarp and managed to hit the Seeker in the leg, before the huge bot was hit in the leg himself by an overhead shot.

Poppy ran as Ironhide started to fall, and Skywarp disappeared and reappeared in front of her. Without hesitation she shot, and the laser whipped across the teleporter's optics. Skyward screeched, blinded, as she raced between his legs and got to the shelter of a downed van. Then she shot down the other leg, and when the teleporter fell, shot at his weapons in bursts. Ironhide was down on a knee and one arm; the other arm was firing at Starscream, who was plummeting down in his protoform.

The jet grabbed his wing brother. Poppy and Ironhide managed to get a few more hits on both of them, but not enough to keep Starscream from leaving, taking Skywarp with him. The pair took a few more hits, but Starscream did not abandon Skywarp and managed to fly.

"Starscream you bastard one of these days I'm going to finally kill you!" Poppy shrieked at it as the jet lumbered away with his badly wounded brother.

Poppy hurried up to Ironhide, who put Sam down and stood up. Poppy had to prop her father up. "Ratchet is going to yell at you for an hour," Ironhide told Sam. "Then he'll let Sheena get started. You promised…" Ironhide's wound was gone, and Poppy realized that Sam fixedhim.

"Shut up," Sam said succinctly. "Poppy, either help me check on the prototype or check on it and let me know. Ironhide, the sparklings! Are they all right?" Poppy got her father down and left to check as Sam asked, while Ironhide squatted over him protectively and contacted Slag. When Slag did not answer, the black bot called his Prime.

"The sparklings are well but Slag is not," the Prime told him, rage in his voice. "They were outside, and Thundercracker showed up. Slag made the sparklings get under him, because they couldn't get to shelter fast enough. While Slag was taking hit after hit, Thunder told the sparklings they belonged to Megatron, that Megatron was their creator, and that they were stolen from his leader. We got there just as Slag off-lined temporarily. The sparklings were all screaming at Thundercracker, and I would like to know just where they learned that kind of language," he added, glaring at Ironhide.

"Don't look at me," said Ironhide. "What were they saying?"

"Essentially, without all the cursing, that Megatron was not their creator and they were not owned by anyone, and they were going to get revenge on Thundercracker for hurting their teacher," Optimus said. "But that gave us time to get to the Seeker, and he could not stand again all of us. Ratchet and the twins are guarding the prototype." Just then Sam's phone rang with a text that the prototype was fine, and Sam was to get his tail to the infirmary before Slag died.

Sam got up and stared moving. Ironhide snatched him up and hauled to the infirmary, setting Sam on the medical berth. Sam almost fell onto the triceratops. Energon was everywhere. There was no sound except Sam's breathing, slow and careful to handle the pain. After a time he stumbled back. Ratchet steadied him as Slag onlined its optics and looked around.

"The children.." he said in a panic, and tried to stand. Ratchet shoved him back down.

"Are fine," Sam said, on his knees on the berth. "Ratchet, I did just enough to keep Slag going, he still needs help."

"Smart move for once," the medic grumbled. "Ironhide, I contacted Sheena, would you get him to the balcony? Poppy, would you make sure Sam behaves?"

"Not a problem," she said briskly, and rode Ironhide's shoulder to the balcony. Sam was content to rest in Ironhide's hand until they reached the balcony and the bed Jeremy had ready for him. "Ironhide, let Dad slide on fixing you, okay? " The black bot laughed.

"Done. I don't want Ratchet yelling at me, either," Ironhide said.

Sam was sleeping five hours a night now instead of four, but he still took long walks in the small hours of the morning. It was when the base was the quietest. The bots tended to work on projects that were private to the bots, which kept them in the buildings. The base was shielded, and Sam felt safe walking there. Only the coldest nights or heaviest rain kept him from his walk.

If Sam saw a bot first, he would hug a building, and hope to not be seen. If the bot saw him first, Sam usually had an escort for the rest of the walk. He had some interesting talks on those nights. One night he spent talking to Sunstreaker without his twin, and they discussed the difference between the twin bond and marriage. One night he walked with Slag, and they discussed the pros and cons of having offspring the way the humans did and the way the bots did.

Then one night he encountered one of the sparklings. Since Slag arrived, the sparklings had developed fast. Sam wondered sometimes if there was memory left, just in a way that would not hurt their development. The one who found him was the blue one, who tended to be quieter and more thoughtful than the other two. He learned to read English, and read when Slag would allow it.

There was no question that the sparkling was waiting for him. "How'd you get past Slag, youngster?" Sam asked, but he did not object as the sparkling fell into step with him.

"I asked Slag if I could talk to you, "the sparkling said, "and he said if I could find you. When I was on patrol with Arcee once, she was talking to the others in the trine, and they said they saw you walking sometimes. I figured where you would have to go to get where they saw you. I'll tell Slag I found you."

A moment later Sam's cell rang with a text from Slag. Sam confirmed that the sparkling was with him. "Looks like you have permission," he said. "What's up?"

"Are we-the sparklings- Decepticons?"

Sam did not hesitate. "No. You're too young to fight, so you aren't a Decepticon or an Autobot yet. Does that help?"

The sparkling thought. "I mean, did we come from the Decepticons? Megatron said he found his sparklings, when he saw us in the meadow that day, and Thundercracker said we were. Was Megatron our creator?"

"No. The All-Spark made you," Sam assured the troubled sparkling. "How far back do you remember?" The sparkling remembered the base where Sam created them in the vaguest way, that while he and his brothers were with Sam most of the time, they were taken to run in open spaces by big bots who yelled at them a lot. "Did Slag ever tell you how sparklings were made in Cybertron?"

The little one nodded. "The creators would take a protoform to the All-Spark at the Temple and get a spark. But we were not made that way."

"No," Sam said. "What do you know about the All-Spark?"

"It's inside you, but you're making something else for it to go in," the sparkling said. "But you can't make sparks, because you're human and it hurts too much. How were we born, Sam?"

Sam considered. "Did you tell Slag what you were going to ask me?" he asked. The sparkling shook his head. "All right, I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you, but you have to promise me that you will not tell your brothers. When they ask me or Slag, then we'll tell them or tell you to tell them." The sparkling nodded. "There was some research being done at the Decepticon base, where I was a prisoner," the human Cube told the young one, remembering the days there with an inward shudder. "It involved forcing sparks from bots, and keeping the sparks going instead of letting them go. No one, me included, knows how it was done, and no one should ever do it. It's one thing to kill a bot, because the spark goes on. But to steal the spark, and hold it like that-it's a terrible thing. Megatron's researcher did it to three bots."

"I got into the lab, and as soon as I did, we knew that the sparks were there, and that one of them was about to leave-not to go on, but to dissolve into random energy. The other two were stuck; they could not die, and could not go on. The researcher was trying to force the sparks into a new protoform, and what he was trying to do would not work. They were in a lot of pain." They walked as he talked, but the sparkling was listening with every circuit.

"So the All-Spark gave me a choice. We could let them all go, and find peace that way. Or we could remake them, but that would mean using a lot of power that had to go through me. I made the only choice I could. And so the All-Spark remade the sparks again, so that they could go into the new forms, and begin a new life. "

"And that was us?" the sparkling asked. Sam nodded. "When I was rescued, you followed me, so we took you home with us." Sam remembered how they went straight to Bumblebee when he called them in Cybertronian, and how the Autobots welcomed them.

"So you are our creator," the sparkling said slowly. "We wouldn't have been made without you. Whatever we were before would just be-gone."

"The All-Spark made you," Sam corrected gently. "Like it made all sparks. I helped, the way the priests helped at the temple. "They turned a corner, and out of the corner of his eye Sam thought he saw a vehicle following, but when he turned, there was nothing.

"Did it hurt?" Sam nodded. "Is that why you said you would never do it again?"

"What was done to those sparks was the worst thing that could happen to anyone," Sam said. "I don't want that to happen to anyone again. That's why I wouldn't do it again. Those sparks got lucky, in that we were there for them; the others are gone."

"Oh."

"Do you remember the cat with the kittens?" Sam asked. The sparkling giggled. Someone's pregnant pet cat had gotten out and wandered onto the bot's part of the base.

Sam came home from work to find the sparklings and about half the bots watching the cat have kittens on his coat which had fallen onto the floor of his patio. The word spread and the equally embarrassed and relieved owner came over to fetch the cat and kittens several days later. The older bots were actually more curious than the sparklings were.

Sam would forever treasure the look on Poppy's face when Ratchet and Ironhide asked her if having human babies was like that. Sam and Bob laughed until they cried, partly at the look on Poppy's face when the medic asked, and partly at the look on Ironhide's face when she blandly described the differences between a cat having kittens and a woman having a baby. Ironhide looked like he wanted to throw up; bots couldn't, but poor Ironhide looked like he would give it a good try right then.

"Did it look like it hurt?" The sparkling nodded. "But it acted happy later, and took care of the kittens?" The little one nodded. "I don't regret a moment of what happened, because the three of you came out of it. You were well worth it. "

"Really?" The sparkling thought about that, and visibly his mood lightened. "It's hard being the littlest all the time, though."

"When the prototype Cube is finished, it will be able to make sparks again, and there will be more sparklings."

The sparkling considered that idea. "So we'll be the oldest of the new ones?"

Sam laughed. "The oldest of the new generation, yes. " He turned casually, trying to see who might be watching them-no luck. They moved on, moving up a slope.

"Will the humans mind when there are more sparklings, Sam? Will they mind sharing the planet?" This time Sam did not hesitate to answer.

"Once the war lightens up, there's a lot of space out there," Sam said, waving at the sky. "The humans are trying to move out into space a little. Humans technology is moving very slowly there. Now, you guys don't have as much trouble out there, so," Sam shrugged.

"Maybe we can build another Cybertron," the sparkling said.

"Cybertron is still there, only wounded and suffering. When the time comes, you will return and begin again, but perhaps not in the way that you would expect." The sparkling stopped and stared at Sam. His human friend had looked funny, like a light was all over him, and his voice sounded funny, too, like he was talking into a tunnel. His eyes were almost blank. Then he walked again, and looked like the Sam the sparkling knew.

"I know what my designation is going to be," the sparkling said.

"Do you," Sam said lightly. At that time they crested the hill, and under them the lights of the town shown. They lingered. Then they turned and headed down. Sam twisted again, trying to spot the watcher, but there was no one as they headed down.

The sparkling nodded, very seriously. "I'm Changeling."

They walked on. After a time, the sparkling talked about the obstacle course and what they were doing with it now. At the courtyard, Slag was waiting for them. "I'll see you later, youngling," Sam said, and watched as the teacher and his student left his courtyard. Then his cell phone buzzed. He looked at it, and walked to the balcony. Sure enough, Bumblebee was there. "I knew someone was watching us," the human Cube said.

"Slag asked me to watch the sparkling," the yellow scout said, without apology. "He was pretty sure about what the sparkling would want to say. They do see you as their creator."

"You handled that very well," Optimus said, coming from the door.

I am a father and a grandfather, Sam thought, amused. "Thank you," he said out loud. "It's easy when you mean it." He yawned. "I need to download," he added, looking at his watch, and started for the stairs. Optimus held out a hand, and Sam climbed into it.

"One question, Sam." Sam nodded. "You said to Changeling that Cybertron was not destroyed. How did you know?"

"The All-Spark said it at my trial to Swoop, " the human Cube said. "'Look above you, you who claimed to be my priest and never believed. That is the last one who fooled himself that his wish for power was the destiny of Cybertron. Our world stands damaged for that pride, and the power the Lord High Protector once held is gone forever.'" He laughed a little harshly. "Wish it was always that clear." Optimus put him down and he went to the door.

"Do you really think we'll spread to space," Bumblebee asked, "when we start having sparklings again?" His voice was only curious.

"Well, that won't be _my_ problem," Sam said, on his way out of the door.

In the next few weeks, the other two sparklings sought Sam out. Sideslip just appeared, startling Sam out of his brooding, and Camouflage spoke to Sam out of one of the walls when Sam walked by it. Sam talked to both of them, and gave them the same information he gave Changeling. Not until Camouflage left him did Optimus tell Sam that for a sparkling to tell his creator its designation was a rite of passage.

Two weeks later Ironhide joined Slag in training the younglings, sparklings no longer.


	3. Chapter 3

Final Project Chapter Three.

I do not own Transformers. Sigh.

Now that the project with the space solar storage was into outside testing, Sam began working on the much more difficult project of the space energon machine. Here he worked a lot with Bert, looking at the old machinery. He was sidetracked by the need update the shields so they layered and were stronger. With one thing and another, it was quite some time later when he finally managed to get the project to a firm design plan.

A call came from Annabelle while he was at the energon plant with Bert discussing a possible time frame to begin building a prototype. "It's that damned space agency again," she grumped to him.

"We just finished adapting that battery for them to use on the space shuttle, what more do they want?" Sam was understandably annoyed. For him, the solar storage battery using space sunlight was a step towards developing the new energon producer using direct space sunlight. He expected there to be a very limited use for it, for orbiting machinery. Instead, United Nations began requesting that the batteries be adapted for use with the space shuttle and the two space stations, in addition to the underground moon station. The crew that worked with Sam did most of the adaptations, but Sam was drawn into helping with the one that would be tried on the space shuttle.

"They want an engineer on the shuttle when it makes the test flight. Specifically, they want you."

"I'll tell you what, Annabelle. You take that up with the bots. I said something about needing to test my current project, and I thought Bee was going to overheat at the thought. Then I got a lecture from Optimus, from Prowl, and finally from Sheena. I am not even going to start that mess again."

"I know about that, but just how do you expect me to tell the Department of Space Studies at the UN that my main design engineer can't go into space in case he's attacked by hostile alien robots? "

"In Sheena's case, it was that I was over eighty. Something about when you age you lose bone density, and space would make it a lot worse. You did tell them that I'm over eighty?" Sam asked. Bert choked on his drink. Sam had just hauled him all over the plant climbing over machinery and was now pacing while talking to Annabelle on his cell phone. Bert, decades younger, was sitting in his chair wishing he was in a hot tub for his sore legs.

"They cited John Glenn at me. Besides, I already told them no, that we discussed the matter with your doctor who told you it was not advisable. I do want to know if someone else can go. That way, we can say that you will be available to work with whoever we send in case there's a problem." Considering, Sam agreed to ask his co-workers.

"Hey," Bert said, "I'd love to do that."

Sam grabbed a piece of paper and wrote Annabelle's e-mail address on it. "There." He sighed. "I'd love to go. And the truth is, for a short flight I really would be fine. The danger is the Decepticons."

"You're serious. In space?"

"That is where they came from. There's one particular Decepticon that spends a lot of time in the satellites getting information, has been since Egypt, and they can't catch the thing. They tell me he's one scary bot."

"Egypt was-"

"When I was eighteen, and Optimus got killed. You know about that, right?" Bert had been working at the energon plants for years now, since he helped with Sam's rescue from the Decepticons. Surely someone told him all the old stories?

"No, what happened?"

"Ah- " Sam looked at the clock. "I don't mind telling the story, but it's a long one. Let's get this finished and I'll tell you over lunch tomorrow. The problem is, they might come after me in space, and that would not be a good thing."

"Hell no, but shouldn't the space colonies know?"

"From what I understand, there has been absolutely no sign whatsoever that the bots of either kind go anywhere near the space colonies. Why would they? There's nothing there they need. "Then he turned their attention to the work they had just done.

Weeks later both of them were in Texas, as result of intense negotiation and the personal request of the leader of the United Nations and the president of the United States. If the battery worked the way the space researchers hoped, it would open up the space colonies to more industrialization. If Sam could not take the test flight-something the world leaders did understand-then could he at least be on site to deal with setup and be available for consultation? They would provide protection, ex-NEST for the most part.

To the surprise of the bots, Sam stopped protesting and agreed. They were not pleased at all, even with the agreement for Bumblebee and Prowl escorting as protection if needed. Sam went to a lot of trouble to make sure they did not know the reason he agreed.

He needed to settle a very private matter.

Years ago, just before Sam was taken by the Decepticons, he had gone out with Oscar and Jimmie bar-hopping. Beginning the download lifted his depression after the death of Mikaela and he was exploring possibilities. It helped that Poppy and her family were on vacation with Bumblebee as guardian, and were not there to put a damper on his getting a new social life.

At one particular place, he met a young woman who had buried herself in studies for four years. She was looking for someone to share a night without strings, determined to find out what all the fuss was about before she left home. Intending to talk her out of her reckless behavior, Sam arranged a date at the meadow, and it went a lot further than he anticipated. While he did enjoy the encounter, he decided at that point that he no longer needed that kind of social life. He checked on the young lady shortly afterward, and found she had moved on to Texas, was doing well, and that she had been in a really good mood the day she left.

Sam saw her at one of the base restaurants the day he took Bert to the promised lunch. He came over to speak, and her behavior puzzled him until he saw her husband coming over holding the hand of a little girl. Miky was one of those children who never knew a stranger, and she talked readily to Sam, telling him her whole name was Mikaela but it was too long to say everyday, about her kindergarten, and when she was born. By the time she lost interest in the nice man, Sam knew why Belinda was acting so oddly, and why her husband was about to explode. "Do we need to talk?" he asked. She nodded miserably. She was down on a visit to her father, as the family lived in Texas.

Belinda's husband met him for lunch the next day. The explanation was simple enough. He met Belinda just before the birth of Miky, and they became close. Belinda refused to pursue the father of the baby, saying truthfully that she did not even know his last name. She had finished her first semester, stopped to have the baby, and resumed on-line while the baby was little. She had a job with benefits, so had been able to support the baby adequately. Keith tensed a little when Sam asked about that. In the course of trying for another baby, they discovered that Keith could not father children; he desperately wanted to adopt little Mikaela. For that they needed a paternity test and his signature allowing the adoption. They had already initiated the paperwork for the adoption some time ago, and Keith showed him the filed forms, but getting the paternity settled would speed matters up. Keith assured Sam that both he and Belinda had good jobs and were well able to take care of Mikaela and afford the costs of the adoption and any attendant expenses. He was a little puzzled when Sam started to laugh.

"If my family finds out about this I am never going to hear the end of it," he said. "All right. I'm willing to take the paternity test. I'm going to give you the name of my lawyer, and she'll arrange everything. Once she stops laughing. You know who Belinda named Miky after?" Keith shook his head. "My wife- I'm touched, actually. She died about ten years ago."

"Your attorney would find that funny?"

"No, it's my age." Keith nodded, eyes going to Sam's white hair. Sam wrote out the name and phone number of his attorney. "Be sure to tell her who is handling the adoption for you." He included his name, folded the note and handed it over. Keith left and only looked at it when he got home; he and Belinda saw it at the same time.

At her reaction, he researched the name, wondering why it seemed vaguely familiar. He stared at the wealth of information, and then started laughing. "And I told him we'd pay for everything!" At that she started laughing, too, and Miky came running in to find out what was so funny, followed by Belinda's father. Belinda cleared the screen before her father appeared and gave her husband a warning look. They only told him that they had talked to the probable father and he was willing to work with them, but wanted it kept private.

Later, in the car on the way home when Miky was fast asleep, she explained, "Sam Witwicky was kidnapped a few weeks after I left for Texas. I remember Dad saying that he's been a terrorist target since he was a teenager." She shook her head. "His grandson is a NEST soldier! Grandson! "

"He was almost eighty! Dammit but I'm jealous! How does he do it?"

"And I thought he was in his forties or something! I can't believe I never noticed a thing! I mean, he was acting like a professional, but I never ever guessed he was the freaking CEO of one of the freaking biggest companies in the world!" She glanced back at her daughter. "But we have to keep it really quiet. We have to tell Dawn that." The attorney handling the adoption was also a personal friend.

But there was no need to tell Dawn. Someone had already contacted her and emphasized that for their own and Miky's safety they must not mention the father's name and everything would be handled very quietly for that reason. She also told them that everything would be paid for as soon as the paternity test results came back. "The way they were acting, it's just a formality," she added, puzzled. "I'll refund you as soon as I get it." Belinda and Keith huffed, both resolving that they would refuse the help.

When Sam called his attorney, she was indignant at first, but he had to admit that there was not only a possible but likely. As he predicted, she fell apart laughing, but she agreed to make the arrangements, including investigations into both of the parents. The reports came back clean for both; they were both computer programmers with a good company. The results of the paternity test did not surprise him. Miky looked like Ronnie at her age.

So when the trip to Texas was proposed, Sam stopped protesting. When they arrived at the hotel, he called Belinda. Later that week, he met her at the attorney's office, and signed the release that allowed Keith to adopt Miky, on the condition that they accept a trust fund for her, already set up, and that they provide information on her through his son Jimmie, twice a year. He confided in Jimmie earlier, and after Sam's older son stopped laughing, he agreed to be Belinda's go-between. They protested that they were more than able to care for her financially, but he insisted, and finally they agreed to get the matter settled.

On the way home, Prowl asked why Sam was so quiet. "Just thinking," Sam said. He did not want to let his child go, but she was settled, happy, and now she should be as safe as he could make her. Any relative of his not living under the bot's protection had to be distanced from him. At least he would be able to keep up with her progress.

Sometime, he thought, you have to love someone enough to let them go. He remembered Mikaela's long fight with cancer, and how he argued when she decided to stop fighting. A compassionate and patient doctor took him aside and spent over a hour with him, explaining again and again why there was noting else they could do, and that she did have the right to make that decision.

Agreeing was the hardest thing he had ever done. It took him five years to get over her death. He started the download, knowing that the presence might go to the prototype, killing him, and not really caring. Instead, the presence sifted his memories, finding the ones that would bring him out the depression he was mired in. Wherever human souls went when the body died, he knew she was waiting for him there, and the thought comforted him.

When they got back to the hotel, Sam went to his private suite and asked Bert and the bots to just leave him alone the rest of the night, he needed some room. He told Bert that something reminded him of Mikaela. Bumblebee explained to Bert while Prowl texted Jimmie.

Jimmie e-mailed Prowl back that the appointment Prowl took Sam to was both very important to his father and very private. He emphasized that neither Poppy nor Ronnie knew, and the only reason that he did was to help protect someone else.

Jimmie, Sam's oldest son, was the only member of the Witwicky family that was not a NEST soldier or working for the company. Even Poppy, who the chief nursing officer for the town hospital, also acted a liaison for the base's infirmary and NEST personnel. Jimmie wanted to go into acting from the time he was in middle school. His parents, seeing his talent and his determination, supported his decision. The bots threw a major fit and gave him and his parents all kinds of arguments over the matter. Jimmie had to stand up to Ironhide and tell the largest and scariest bot he knew (outside of the Decepticons, whom he had only heard of anyway) that he was going to live his own life and make his own decisions, at the same time his father told Optimus Prime that Jimmie had the right to make his own decisions. The one concession Sam and Jimmy made was to change Jimmie's name to James Witwicky Banes, to protect him.

The college Jimmie went to was out of state, and he went home as little as possible. Then, on a school sponsored trip to Charleston, SC for the Spoleto Festival, he found an injured and stranded Prowl, and called his father.

Prowl was a very logical bot. He listened to Jimmie's story; he spoke to the other bots and to both Sam and Mikaela. As both one of Optimus' most trusted bots and as a new arrival, the security bot was neutral on the matter. After consideration, Prowl asked his Prime why any of the bots believed that they had any right to question the decision of a youngling and his creators regarding the life work of the youngling.

That judgment made the rest of the bots think. With any other bots, they would consider Prowl to be supporting Jimmie due to the youth's rescue, and in fact their resentment was softened by Jimmie's immediate response to Prowl's need. But they knew that Prowl would not let personal matters into his consideration.

Ironhide apologized when Jimmie came home and went to visit Prowl. From then on, Jimmie, who became a respected and successful actor in a popular sitcom, and went on to audiobooks and voice acting for video games and cartoons, became the one to call for opinions from the human world outside the base. When Prowl was baffled by human behavior, he contacted Jimmie. When there was crisis at home, Jimmie came to help.

However, Prowl knew that in a 'private matter' Jimmie would support his father. Therefore, Prowl took the responsibility for investigating. Not for a single moment did the bot consider withdrawing on the matter. Sam was the host for the All-Spark and did not have privacy, in its opinion. By morning, Prowl had all the information it needed. With the amount of hacking it had to do, Prowl had to admit the security was good for the humans, and the matter would be private for bots or humans. At least the female parent informed Sam when she found him. It was not unknown for a seriously injured creator or one with sudden unexpected demands to place a sparkling into another's care if needed. Knowing Sam and his interaction with family, Prowl came to the correct decision that Sam was putting the sparkling's needs before his own preferences. Prowl reported on a private line to Optimus Prime and recommended that no further action be taken.

Optimus got a similar report from Bumblebee much later in the day, confirming Prowl's information and conclusions. The former guardian gave Sam his space when asked, but nagged constantly until Sam got frustrated enough to tell him what happened.

"You can tell Optimus," Sam told Bumblebee, "but if Poppy or Ronnie or anyone else at the base finds out, I'll block you out of my life forever. It's private, dammit. The only reason I'm telling you now, besides to get you off my back, is so someone else besides Jimmie knows. She might come looking for her family someday, and I won't be around to explain." That explains why Bumblebee sounded so subdued, Optimus mused. None of them liked it when Sam talked about his death.

Bert was glad to leave Sam to his own devices while he got his own head sorted out. Unlike most of the people who worked for the company, Bert was a full adult who was not in the armed forces when he discovered the bots. He discovered them by seeing them at an old friend's private airfield/warehouse area. Victor was old and blind, but his airport was by one of the best place to rock climb near where Bert lived, and in return for running some errands and agreeing to be part of the old man's telephone network, he would let rock climbers use the cliff. Not having heard from Victor for over a month and wanting to make a climb, Bert went to the top of the cliff, and saw something that gave him a serious scare.

It was a huge bipedal machine, walking with a man. The thing did not look human at all, except that it walked on two legs. It bristled with all kinds of sharp edges that could turn into weapons, and looked as if it had some kind of gun thing in its arm. The machine had something wrapped around its arm, like rope, but was not using it. It would walk ahead, wait for the man to catch up, and repeat. Bert thought it might be talking. The man had on a coat and walked steadily, occasionally talking back to the big machine. After a time, the big machine turned and headed back for the compound. The man did not want to go, and the machine herded him. At one point, the machine started to take the rope or whatever off its arm, and the man stopped protesting and walked back, silent.

Prisoner, Bert thought, aghast, this guy is a prisoner of this thing. His first impulse was to call the police. Then he considered how the call would sound. He did settle for making an anonymous report that someone was being held prisoner at Victor's old airport. As he expected, nothing happened. He tried posting on a crackpot Web page, and nothing seemed to happen with that either.

He went back and checked it out again, this time without his gear but with a camcorder. This time there was some kind of confrontation, the man with some kind of crumbled up machine, and a bunch of robots like the one that was walking with the man. In the front was a bigger one, with wings. The guy actually started to glow, and his fingers started throwing sparks. Then another robot came out, said something that made them all back down, and dragged the man back inside. This time Bert posted the video on YouTube, and got a call back. It was Ronnie Witwicky, the man's father.

Bert knew Victor's house and warehouse as well as Victor did. He led Ronnie to the hidden tunnels, almost to Victor's apartment. There was a lot of noise above them, searching and some kind of clicking noise. The opening to Victor's apartment was nailed over and they had no tools with them. Ronnie went back out to the huge badass truck they came in on, and headed out. Halfway through the woods, Ronnie said, "Now would be a good place, Hide," and the truck stopped. Ronnie got them out, and the wildest thing Bert had ever seen happened. The truck changed. Things moved and changed and reformed until they were both looking at a huge, bipedal form. "This is Ironhide," Ronnie said, "he's a Autobot. He works with NEST against the ones you saw holding my dad. "

When Bert heard the man's name, he was shocked. "You mean the guy who invented the solar storage battery and the energon batteries? They come out with a bunch of new stuff a lot, too, specialty stuff? Why?"

"The company that he runs-ran, really, he just retired from being CEO- supports NEST and the bots. The company uses their technology, adapted for our level."

Ironhide snorted. " Most of it is so basic we have trouble getting down to that level. Sam's welcome to all of it he wants, as long as he's not building weapons."

"Yeah, well, you see," Ronnie said to Bert.

"But why would the bad robots bother with him? The company's still going, and you said he even resigned as CEO."

"Sam holds the information once stored in the Cube," the bot informed him. Bert looked at Ronnie for a translation. Then he shivered. It was cold and damp out. Ironhide reversed the transform, and as soon as they got into the truck again, considerately turned the heat on.

"When Dad was a teenager, there was this Cube thing that an old family heirloom held the location on. The Autobots came to him to get it. The 'bad bots,' the Decepticons, tried to threaten it out of him. You can guess who Dad went with." Bert could see his point. "But somewhere in the middle of the fight, Dad got hold of it, and he used it to kill the leader. When he did, it transferred all the information in it into his brain. Dad always says he's an alien Wikipedia. Both sides want access to the information. That's why they haven't killed him. Most humans, they just let loose with all those troops you saw and let them see how long it takes to stomp him." Ronnie's voice was grim. "I know how to get there now, so you don't have to get any more involved."

Bert could not have left it alone to save his life. In return, he got the best job he's ever held in his life, and he really liked the bots, though Prowl sometimes got on his nerves. Sam turned out to be a decent guy, though he was really jumpy for a while.

Nobody blamed him for that. There was one time when Bert was sure Sam had something to do with a bot chasing Ronnie getting struck by lightning, but he decided some time ago that he must have been mistaken.

The thing was, everybody assumed that Bert already knew stuff. Now that he had Sam available and not working his ass off, Bert wanted to know everything. Sam told him, evidently glad for the chance to retell some old stories to a new audience. Most of them left Bert's mouth hanging. Sam laughed.

"I know how incredible they sound," he offered. "But you can look some of it up. And ask the bots, they'll back me up." He looked out of the window then, looking somber. "I'm afraid the rest of the humans who saw it aren't here to ask."

Bert did take the chance to look it all up. He found the articles about the broadcast, which was predictably linked to terrorists. He found articles about the pyramid being hit by a space meteor, and wondered how the hell they managed to cover that up. He found the old information about the Mission City terrorist attack. He found the one where Sam was kidnapped during a riot in an African city, and "tortured unmercifully. "

That sobered Bert.

The other thing that sobered Bert was that Sam was right about the humans who witnessed the events. Sam was only a teenager then, and everyone else involved was dead. Sam was seeing his generation die. For the first time, Bert realized that a long life might not be the treasure at the end of the rainbow everyone thought it was.

At the spaceport, they both went to see the staff that dealt with maintenance and other mechanical matters for the shuttle. They looked over the hardware and the new battery ports and the software. Sam looked first; Bert went over everything separately and asked questions that Sam did not cover. The installation was as smooth as anyone could ask. Most of the staff knew Sam and his human background, and were therefore respectful. This man was something of a living legend to them. Sam took all that in stride, used to it. Bert could see that they wished Sam was the one going, but they did accept him, understanding that Sam's age prohibited him from the flight.

But on the second day there, Bert started to feel sick to his stomach and achy. He was worse in the evening. He persisted in working, even though Sam was looking at him in concern. The folks here really wanted an engineer on this flight, to fix problems as they occurred, and Sam could not go. He had to. He figured he'd get over this virus soon enough. He ignored the crick in his side.

When he started vomiting, though, Sam insisted that Bert see a doctor, who sent him for a scan. Two hours later, Bert was heading for the operating room to have his appendix out. Sam was making arrangements as they were prepping an operating room.

"Trixie'll be here in a few hours," Sam reported. "I'll be here until she comes."

"But the flight-"

"They've got two choices. The captain is an engineer; he can make adjustments while I direct him by remote. Or they can just wait. It's not the first time they've had to put something off," he added wryly, and Bert grinned past his painkiller. The shuttle was renowned for delayed flights.

Sam paced in the waiting room, answering his cell as needed. He flatly refused to abandon his employee until there was someone else to take his place in the waiting room and then in the hospital room. He frowned down into his phone after the last call. Something was going on besides the usual hurry up and wait of the government. Somebody was running their own agenda, more than likely some kind of politician.

He got his answer later that evening when Trixie arrived. Bert's surgery went well, but the appendix was ruptured, and he would be in the hospital for several days and out of work for over a month. "We had to go to an open approach," the doctor explained, "to be sure we got all the infection." Sam left Bert to his wife and headed for the hotel. He called Annabelle from Bumblebee.

"I've gotten several nasty messages from someone who seems to think I'll know the sound of his voice," he said. "I imagine the jackass is bothering you as well, so tell me who he is so I can chew him out when I see him."

"I've gone over his head twice," she said grimly. "He's some senator from Texas who is fighting to expand the space center there instead of having it moved to another country. The place is not the best place for the center, just the best in the States. Old school guy, about your age and not in your shape. Probably should have left office ten years ago, but he does have a lot of contacts that his party's reluctant to let go of, so he keeps getting voted in. He wants to make some kind of mark before he leaves office, and he's latched onto this project. "

"Meaning I'm going to hear all this be loyal to your country crap. Dammit, when will people learn that it's humankind and the world they need to deal with? We're almost at a world government and it's these old farts who keep things back, because they want to be God in their own back yard," he grumped.

"He's not the only problem, but he puts weight behind the other ones," Annabelle said, after taking a moment to smother her laughter. "The ones pushing him are the industrialists who want to get things moving. Most of them are managers who have no idea of the logistics, but they do understand that this move is crucial."

"I've had that politely dinned into my ears the last few days," he said, and sighed. "I'm sorry, Belle, this thing with Bert was a little hard on my nerves. I told him and I'll tell you, there's people already scheduled on the flight who could make adjustments with me directing them. I know it's been done before. I'm willing to hang around during the flight as long as I need to. I just don't dare go."

"Is it just more than just being worried about an attack?" she asked.

"I think- and this is why I'm so nervous about going into space- that Megatron intended to take me there," he said slowly. "When the big bad bot showed up at the ranch and found out that I was still the Cube, he told me he had a use for me and a pen I wouldn't break out of. It's occurred to me since then that in space, I would be easy to keep penned up." His voice was strained. "So I don't dare. It would be a death sentence for everyone on the shuttle, if they heard I was out there."

"You too?" she asked quietly.

"I won't go back to that," he said steadily. The silence stretched.

"Tell them and keep telling them that you can't go, and let them think it's your health," she said. "I'll do what I can from this end."

"Thanks, honey. I never dreamed this project would get so tense."

"I never dreamed it would be so profitable," she said, and laughed. "All that specialized stuff has almost paid for the research, and I think it's the tip of the iceberg. Talk at you later."

Sure enough, as soon as Sam appeared at the hotel, there was someone waiting for him with an invitation to dinner with the senator in question at the nice restaurant by the hotel. "Please come as you are," the aide added. "I'll inform your security."

"I'll come but I'll inform my own security," Sam said curtly. He made the calls, and several minutes later he was on his way to a dinner he doubted he would get a chance to eat.

In that at least he was wrong. The senator was waiting at a table for him, but the service was excellent and Sam was able to order as soon as he sat down. Sam studied the senator and knew Annabelle was right on the money. There was a walker near his chair. This man's body was failing, and the world he knew was changing out of his control, and he was afraid for both reasons. But he was a politician, and he started dinner pleasantly by talking about what had happened to Bert, and other small talk about families. He had several grown grandchildren and four great grandchildren, and they traded stories. The senator had seen the video on the television show years ago, and Sam told how it had gotten there.

But the senator did not miss that Sam refused the pre-dinner drink and any wine during dinner, sticking to coffee. When the dinner was cleared and desert served, Sam waited.

"I hear that you won't make the trip on the shuttle yourself," the senator said pleasantly. "You seem to be in excellent shape, Mr. Witwicky. Is there a hidden reason?"

There certainly is, Sam thought. He gave the medical reasons Sheena had drilled into him. "I'm sure you understand that for me to have problems during the flight would not help the project at all." He glanced at the walker, just briefly. "There are alternatives that have been used before, and we'll simply use them again."

That was not where the senator expected the conversation to go. He had to move to a different tack. "If this project does not move forward soon, there is a good chance that the space center will move to another country."

"There's no reason why the project shouldn't move just fine, Senator, using the methods I just outlined to you earlier on the phone. After clearing them with the project manager, the captain of the ship, and the head of NASA, who is just as anxious as you are to keep the center right here. Do you mind my asking just why you want an engineer on the ship? If the battery does not work, then the flight can finish its other missions and come home."

"Yes, Mr. Witwicky, there is. Unlike you, I am not in good health. I want to see a firm space presence before I die. Your new battery is key to that if it works. If there is an engineer there for problems, that will enable the project to move that much more quickly. You are not only the lead engineer, you're a genius, and you need to be on that ship. I want to see humankind in space, expanding, becoming more!" His aged eyes were bright with his dream.

Sam did feel that appeal. Unfortunately, he had more information that the senator on what was out there waiting for them.

"As I've said already, my health does not permit-"

"But that's not the real reason you aren't going. I have good reason to believe that your health is better than you say it is, Mr. Witwicky, and that the real reason that you won't go is because you're afraid of going to space. Afraid of aliens." His look was predatory now, thinking he had Sam cornered.

Sam snorted. "Is that right? So, Senator, that makes it better for me to go into space, because I have delusions? I know what the media's said about me before, and I don't care." Maybe for once the damned media will do me a favor, he mused. "I am not going into space, Senator," he said firmly. "I will help in any way I can except that one thing. I would not be an asset."

The senator did not like that, but he had heard of Sam's legendary stubbornness when pushed. The dinner ended, and Sam left as fast as he could. His nightly call to his family, this time Ronnie, was later than usual. Ronnie said that everything was quiet. Sam told him about his day. "He really pushed you, didn't he?" Ronnie said, frowning. "Watch your back, Dad."

"I'll do that," he assured his son. "But that is why I have bodyguards."


	4. Chapter 4

Final Project

I do not own Tranformers except in my daydreams.

Chapter Four

When it happened, it was so fast that no one noticed until far too late.

Sam went over everything the day before the launch. He carefully reviewed the battery and attached devices with the captain and his back-up one more time. They checked that the video connection worked both ways. He checked the battery and all connections carefully.

He went absolutely nowhere without a bodyguard except the bathroom, and even then one stood at the door unless he was in his suite, in which case they stayed in the bedroom. He insisted on riding in Bee, with the bodyguards in Prowl, and both cars went wherever he did. Prowl and Bee voiced their approval to Sam and their worry to each other that he was that worried.

He did his walking on a treadmill in the fitness room at the hotel, listening to music and bored out of his mind. Fortunately there were several single members of the crew who warmed up to him enough that they would come to his suite to talk and play cards and gossip. Sam learned more about the space program in his suite than he learned from any official. He preferred those nights to the ones when he was official entertained. There, he had to be witty and urban and keep from cursing, especially with all the women who came after him.

He remembered Mikaela's forthright comments on the women who came on to him when they were younger and had to travel. He found that his best option for a kind rejection was simply the truth- that he adored his deceased wife and no woman would ever take her place. To his surprise, that led several of the women to simply relax, and afterward he could enjoy their company (and only their company) with no further bother. If the kind option did not work, he simply got cold and distant. It took longer, but eventually it worked.

The night before liftoff ended. The day of liftoff progressed. Just before the countdown was due to start, Sam and his bodyguards headed for the VIP suite where he would be able to watch the proceedings. Sam relaxed. The shuttle was about to go, and he was still safely on the ground. He contacted Bee that he was on his way to the suite. As soon as he signed off, his phone went dead. So did the earphones the guards used to report. Sam automatically pressed his alarm beacon, only to discover that it, too, was dead.

There were five of them. They surrounded Sam and the bodyguards, staying just out of arm's reach and started shooting.

The shots made no sounds. Sam and his men dropped. Then one of the attackers took out a different kind of gun and made sure the bodyguards never reported. Two stayed to deal with the bodies. Three men took the unconscious Sam to the ship, with no hesitation and by a route that very few knew. About halfway there, he started to struggle, and they shot him again. Just in case, they tied and gagged him this time. There was one door not yet secured in the shuttle, and they slipped in, settled Sam safely, loaded luggage that was by the door, and left, scattering as soon as they were able. The leader reported later to a senator who smiled just slightly. Then the leader reported to his real boss, an industry leader who hoped to gain a real profit from space expansion. The countdown began.

Prowl noticed when Sam's beacon stopped working, and tried to contact the guards. When the security bot could not get through, he contacted the supervisor, who checked the VIP suite and found Sam was not there. The search began. Someone found the bodies of the guards hidden in a closet just as the shuttle got past the point of no return. Several hours later, they found out where Sam was.

"Bethie, go check and make sure nothing in the storage room is rolling around where it might damage something," Captain Jones ordered. Bethany Hampton headed out. Jones always checked the storage room; once something did get loose and made a horrible mess. She moved briskly, glad that there was such a thing as gravity on the shuttle. It might only be a little gravity, but it was a hell of a lot better than nothing. Zero-g was a pain in the ass.

Moments later she was contacted the Captain. "Captain, there's a tied and gagged man here. Looks like that engineer big shot you were going to work with." Behind her the Captain could hear the sound of someone cursing under his breath. "Could someone come and bring something to get this duct tape off with?"

Moments later Sam was helped to the area where they had some minimal medical supplies and Bethany, who acted as medic along with being the copilot, was checking him out. After a moment she told him he seemed to have managed the lift-off just fine. "Whoever put you there planned for this. They had you situated as securely as we were. " Sam snarled at her and then visibly clamped down on his emotions. "Has anyone been in contact with Mission Central yet?" he asked.

He was wavering between furious and scared to death. He never dreamed that the senator or his backers would go this far. All those precautions, all the boring hours he had spent in his damned suite, and he was still here.

"Let me see if the captain is available," she offered. She made the call, and to her evident surprise, he answered immediately.

"Send Mr. Witwicky to the bridge, "he said, and she looked over at Sam. He nodded, thanking her as he headed out of the door. When Sam arrived, the captain found them a private spot and said, "Central is already looking for the soonest landing we can make, Mr. Witwicky. Order came down from the president." Sam nodded, unimpressed; he could just bet there were some security people who were panicking when they talked to Prowl.

Sam built the company using the technology he got from the Cube, but it was actually owned by the nation of Cybertron in exile except for one percent owned by Sam. It had been a huge relief for the United Nations and for the United States when the company started paying the way for the bots, but it also meant that NEST could withdraw from protecting any given nation if the treaty they had with the United Nations was broken.

It was specifically spelled out in that treaty that NEST and company personnel considered members of the nation until such time as they left the company for any reason other than retirement. If any member of the nation was threatened to force the nation to provide technology, for any reason, NEST was not obligated to respond in that nation until the situation was resolved.

The US did not want to lose the treaty. They did not want to lose the base, the factories, or the protection of NEST. Sam was willing to bet there were certain high officials in the government about to give birth to a hedgehog, breech presentation, at the thought.

"For God's sake, I'm Sam. I know for sure you had nothing to do with this. I just hope we can get this thing back down safely. " Captain Robert Jones watched Sam Witwicky pace, his nervous energy showing his very real unease better than any words or temper tantrum would. "Did they tell you why?" The captain shook his head.

"They said you would explain, but to ask you privately."

"Oh, great. They gives them all the deniability they need, I'm sure." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I've heard, and I'm sure you have, of the flitter?"

"You mean that thing people swear they see going from satellite to satellite? Take about a space myth-"The captain smiled in amusement.

"If it's what I think it might be, it's real." Sam's flat voice wiped the smile off the captain's face. "It monitors transmissions. NEST has tried to get to it almost seventy years now, with no luck. One of its abilities is to avoid detection, and he's damned good at it."

The captain was at a loss. "But what country has that kind of technology?"

His unwilling guest looked at him bleakly. "No human country had that kind of technology. " He proceeded to explain, while the captain went from stunned, to disbelieving, to hostile. Sam only sighed. "Look, no matter what you think, I'm going to tell you this right now. I hope that we all get back to Earth with that look on your face. I hope I get back home to my delusions and work on my next project. I hope absolutely nothing on this trip shatters your skepticism." Sam turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" the captain asked in some alarm.

"To check on the battery. Since I'm here, I may as well. " As the captain opened his mouth, he added, "I've worked on this project for some time, Captain, so whatever your opinion of my mental state, I may as well follow through on it. My _delusions_, " he said the word mockingly, "won't have any effect on my ability to do my work."

"How did the alien robots get you in the supply area?" the captain asked.

"Alien robots didn't. What put me there were five completely human men-all men, no women, by their voices and faces. I can describe them to you, if you like. They shot me and my guards with some kind of drug darts. Then they shot me again, when I came out of it. That's when they tied me up." He looked bleak. "I told you about speaking with the senator." The captain nodded.

"That's being looked into now. "

"My family's going to be throwing fits by now. Is there any chance I can talk to them?"

"We'll look into it. After all, we do have the technology, thanks to you." Sam nodded. "Mr. Witwicky," Sam turned from the door. "Say I believe you. What's the danger from these- intelligent robots? What do they want?"

"They want what's in my head, just like the idiots that put me on this ship," Sam said bitterly. "And if they do find out that I'm here, it will be a miracle if any single person on this ship ever gets home alive. Including me."

* * *

The original schedule for the flight was six weeks. Mission Central made a reentry schedule for three weeks, to the screams of the astronomers who had the other mission. Sam monitored the battery, learned the routine, and helped out where he could. For the first week, he noticed that _he_ was monitored consistently, and he tolerated it, knowing that the captain simply could not believe what Sam told him. After that week, the monitoring slowed to being checked on frequently. When looking over the supply room for other surprises, the crewman working on supply found Sam's luggage. Sam looked it over.

The captain saw him reluctantly. "We've gotten permission for you to contact your son Ronald, who already has the right clearance level, and someone called Optimus." He saw Sam's relief. "Was there something else?"

"I'm afraid so. I've looked through my luggage, and I need to know if some of my possessions that were in the hotel safe are still there. I had a weapon that I had to have a special permit to carry, and it's missing. "

"And this is important, why?"

"For one thing, illicit copying. It's a special laser, and in the wrong hands it could do a lot of damage. Like I said, I had to have a special permit for it. For another, whoever shows up with it can be traced back and find out who dumped me in your lap, so to speak."

And Primus and God both help that person, he thought. Optimus might just look the other way if he or she turns up dead or insane. If Poppy doesn't get to them before Bumblebee or Arcee or the twins do. Maybe even Sludge, who was really hard to get mad, but when that one lost his temper… Whatever they paid the attacker, it was not enough. But to be honest, this time Sam wanted to see the hologram when they got hold of him.

"What did Smith and Anderson say about the people that attacked us?" Sam added.

"I'll pass on the information about the weapon," the captain said. "Smith and Anderson were the men with you?" Sam nodded. "They were found just as we were committed, from what I understand."

"Found?" Sam said, his voice rising. "What do you mean, found? Not dead?" The captain nodded. Sam's cursing ranged over four languages. "Why, for God's sake? It just doesn't make any sense! As if a month or so would ever make a difference! Bert could have come on the next flight if the battery glitched! How can anyone just throw a life away like that? And for nothing at best, and without thinking that just maybe-" he stopped. The existence of the Cybertronians was still very quiet; he regretted that right now.

The captain did feel some sympathy. Even if Sam's reason was only delusion, his reason for refusing to come into space was geared toward not endangering others. He saw how fascinated Sam was with the shuttle and with space itself. He spent a lot of his rest shift looking out at the stars, his face a study in wonder, and asked a lot of questions. "Are you comfortable? I'm told you aren't sleeping well."

"I only sleep about five hours a night, but when I sleep I sleep hard," Sam told him, still brooding about the death of his guards. "When and how do I contact Ronnie and Optimus? "

The captain wrote it down for him. Sam thanked him and left. The captain turned his attention to other matters.

Ronnie Witwicky shouted as soon as he got the connection, "Okay, everybody, it's Dad!" They were gathered at Sam's patio. Bluestreak, in his usual role as babysitter, sent a message to Optimus. The screen flickered, and Sam showed. Babble broke out as everyone talked at once. Ronnie thought with relief that Dad looked fine. Sam assured him immediately that so far everything had gone very well. The project was working without any problems so far except some recalibration of the battery.

Ronnie answered his questions in a rush, eye on the clock. Bert was recovering fine. Then Poppy sat and talked for a few minutes, followed by Jimmie, Bob, Minnie with her kids, Oscar with his child, Ronnie's teens, and then Jeremy questioning him about his health, followed by Annabelle asking about his treatment. Once the humans had all reassured themselves that Sam was fine, they cleared out except for Ronnie. Optimus was in the back part of the patio, out of sight, but the Prime could hear Sam and Sam could hear his bot friend.

"Is the device working well?" Optimus asked.

"Very well," Sam assured the Prime, knowing he referred to the storage device Ratchet made for constant small download when Sam could not get to the prototype. It was implanted under his shoulder blade. "They tell me that the shuttle will land as soon as possible, but the closest time is ten days, and a lot of problems can delay a landing. There is an ongoing rumor of a 'flitter' being spotted going from satellite to satellite, always seen but never officially detected. Sound familiar?"

"So they have seen Soundwave, but no more than that," Optimus mused.

"Okay, let's be a little realistic here," Ronnie said practically. "How likely is it that that Soundwave and or the other 'Cons could keep Dad alive in space? That's the most hostile environment there is for humans." At the thought, Sam perked up. Megatron wanted Sam alive unless the Decepticon leader could bleed the power off into a new Cube; at this time, Sam had downloaded enough power into the prototype that the All-Spark would jump to that container even if there was another available.

"Yes," Optimus said reluctantly. "It would take a great deal of effort on Megatron's part, but it is possible to get Sam off the shuttle and keep him alive in space for a short time, and get him to a base where a special-area-could be maintained for him." Kept like a gerbil in a cage or a fish in an aquarium, Sam thought, and the idea made him feel a little sick.

"That's a damned disturbing thought," he said.

"Can Soundwave threaten the shuttle by itself?" Ronnie asked.

"The way he does the satellites, yes." Ronnie glanced over at Optimus. "I have already contacted allies," the Prime said, "and they will do their best to arrive and intercept. Soundwave is formidable."

Sam sighed. "I hope they find whoever did this and nail their hides to the wall," he said with feeling, seeing that their time was up.

They signed off. Ronnie stared at the blank screen and said, "Dad's in real danger out there, isn't he?"

"Yes," Optimus said, and left.

Sam was working on the battery when he heard, "What the hell!" in a shout. He put the battery back into its space and went to find out what was going on. The battery was close to the bridge, and he was a familiar figure there now. Pausing at the entrance, he looked out at space, the way he always did. "Soundwave," he said, and despair hit him as hard as a blow.

The captain barely saw him out of the corner of his eye. He did not dare turn. There, right in front of him, was the creature he always dismissed as space myth. It looked like a perverted octopus, with tentacles and red lights that he guessed were eyes, and it was coming straight for the shuttle. "Get Mission Central," he shouted at his copilot, who came out of her stunned trance and began to work. But she could not get a line out. The captain worked beside her, and got nothing but static.

They lost sight of the creature. Then there was a shudder that ran through the entire ship. They saw tentacles run over the ship on the videos, searching.

Sam went back to the battery. He lifted it out of the case again, and reached to the connections that fed into the battery. The power there would rival the lighting bolt that fried Breaker. It would be quick. He felt the ship rock. He had just enough time.

Before his fingers reached the power that would give him the only escape he saw possible, they froze. Sam could not move his hand further, and he knew what was stopping him. Anyone watching would see a white-haired man staring at the opening where the battery went, hand halfway in, and frozen in place.

I can't go back to being a pet, he pleaded to the power that shared his consciousness. Memories tore through his mind at speed, of being tormented for days, at being kept, called, walked like a cherished pet, of knowing that he was an object in their eyes and would never be anything else, remembering the agony of remaking the sparks, and knowing that he could die any time if his captors got the prototype.

There is still one more thing we must do, came the answer, before I release you. The warmth rose in him, the wash of soothing assurance that muted the despair. He closed his eyes.

Then he heard a growl from behind him, and turned to see a Ravage-like Con leaping for him. He rolled, his training taking over, and the sonic ball flew. He came to his feet and heard the scream just as he saw Bethie at the door. She stared at the 'Con writhing as the ball discharged. "A ball bearing did that?" she asked.

Sam was able to keep the sonic balls in the security areas because nobody knew what they were for. The other weapons were too obvious and had to be left in the hotel safe.

"Sonic ball," he said briefly, heading past her. "Reacts only to their kind of metal." A bronze raptor came at them, and he threw again. The raptor tumbled. "How many symbiotes does he have?" he asked out loud. As if to answer, a bat fluttered at him, circling. A laser licked out. The bat went after the source, and Sam threw and missed. Bethany grabbed the ball as it rolled past her and threw with better accuracy. The captain gasped for breath as Ratbat writhed. Then the ship rocked, spilling all of them into the floor. A tentacle came out of nowhere and seized Sam, wrapping him from chest to hip in black bands. Sam shrieked before he ran out of breath, and the sonic balls fell from his hands.

The captain and Bethie grabbed and bounced the things against the tentacles. There was another mechanical roar, and Sam was thrown across the room as the tentacles withdrew. The captain got up and went to check on him, when the ship lurched again. This time the captain said, "We're moving," and headed for the bridge. Sam waved for the copilot to follow him. They reached the bridge just behind each other, and when Sam got there, they were checking everything frantically. Sam sat and waited for them to reach the conclusion he had already reached. They no longer had control of the ship. They turned and looked at him. He breathed carefully and held a hand to his chest.

Behind them they heard a growl. Sam turned and saw that the metal beasts were standing by the door. Soundwave was close enough to on-line his symbiotes before they completely off-lined. "Watch him, creations," came a cold metallic voice from the intercom. "Humans, see that the one called Samuel James Witwicky is cared for and in good health when we reach our destination, or all of you will die when we arrive. Slowly."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

I do not own Transformers, or I would be rich. Oh well.

The captain did file the report regarding Sam's unique laser weapon early in the trip. That was the bit of information that pried open the case and led to the conclusion of the investigation. The perpetrators thought that they were careful, and sure that their political connections would keep them from being prosecuted.

That was before the news that contact with the shuttle had been lost. The Witwicky family, and the CEO of the company, knew what really happened. The investigations were handled by the human police forces of various kinds, but everything that went on a computer was monitored. Sludge gave Bumblebee the information on the condition that they not tell him what they did with it.

The senator was never prosecuted because he died of a myocardial infarction before he could be charged. No one knew about the telephone call that he received before the heart attack, telling him that putting Samuel Witwicky on the shuttle probably destroyed the space program beyond repair. The voice resembled a powerful political figure in his party, a rival that would certainly use the situation against him. Jimmie Banes was on location in Texas and the call was made from a public phone.

The industrialists were not prosecuted. Instead, the space program, under pressure, did not renew their contracts, and an internet whisper campaign hurt their public images to the point that one declared bankruptcy, one was forced to sell, and the last was weakened enough for a hostile takeover. No one ever found out who started the whisper campaign, but Minnie, Bob, Oscar and Bert were all very busy after work several days a week, working with Bluestreak, and the company took over some space industries for the first time. .

The attackers were released on bail. The night they were released, they were involved in various motor vehicle accidents, and all of them were crippled in some way that insured that they would not pursue criminal activities-at least physical ones- again.

No one could find the vehicles that caused the crashes, reportedly extremely expensive sports flars, yellow, gold and silver, and a set of pastel motorcycles supposedly driven by women. The investigators said that no one could possibly have missed seeing such colorful and unusual vehicles, and concluded that the attacker/victims were trying to cover some kind of illegal activity. The medical personnel wondered how much coincidence there was in that the harm was done in places that would not take prosthesis well, as if a doctor or nurse chose the places.

The police did not seem to notice that the accidents occurred in areas that were known to be very quiet, ideal for an ambush, as if a military strategist planned it. Ironhide answered a lot of questions from Ronnie and never asked why he wanted to know.

Optimus Prime was too involved with the reports about the attack on the Autobot base to keep up with the private activities of some of his bots. The attack kept his forces from preventing the attack on the shuttle. At first Optimus worried; Sam always said he would never be taken again if he had to die first. The Prime checked the prototype daily, knowing if Sam died, there would be a change. In the meantime, the assumption was that Sam was alive, and changes had to be made before he talked.

Optimus took a grim satisfaction in knowing that if questioned, Sam would misdirect as much as possible. Megatron lost a great many Decepticon drones last time when Megatron demanded information on the base from Sam. The Decepticon leader used a lie detector while it questioned his human captive, and Sam had given directions past every trap he knew of because Megatron did not specify what kind of directions. Not knowing if the ploy would work again, they changed everything, especially the location of the prototype.

One morning the Prime got a message from a source he did not expect, with information that Sam was alive and where he was.

* * *

After the announcement by the kidnapper creature with the tentacles, Bethany took Sam back to his room and checked him over. She thought he had some cracked ribs, and he was pretty bruised. She wanted to give him something for pain, but he shook his head at that, and told her he just needed to sleep. She arranged for someone to check on him hourly. The next day he was walking normally, and refused to let her look at him again, saying he was fine.

It was clear to anyone who looked at him that he was anything but fine. He looked like someone whose worse nightmare was happening around him. The captain did not restrict his movement, but there was someone assigned to stay with him at all times. They all knew without being told that it was a suicide watch. Sam simply accepted the company, and went about his business.

The robot animals were unnerving. One was always near Sam, usually two. The others wandered the shuttle. They clicked and whirled and occasionally made a purring sound as they poked into everything. One of the scientists objected and received an lesson. Bethany put fifteen stitches in his arm, and the rest of them shut up and left them alone. The wolf-looking one spoke twice. The first time was when Sam was checking the battery.

"Does the device work?" he asked. Sam nodded. "What are you doing, then?"

"Recording information and checking efficiency," Sam said shortly. He recorded the information in his laptop. He took the battery out, got a tool, and reached to begin some minor recalibrations. Suddenly he was flat on his back, both hands pinned to the ground. He was still, waiting to see what would happen next.

"You will not off-line yourself," Carnivore said, too softly for anyone else to hear, "if you want the other humans to remain intact. " Sam nodded.

"We can hardly be held responsible if you hurt him yourselves," the captain pointed out. He did not hear what Carnivore said, but he could see that if that thing put much more weight on Sam's wrists, the engineer was going to have some broken bones. The creature backed off. "I'll do the calibration, Sam, if you'll tell me what you need."

Sam did, while rubbing his wrists. The captain thought he would have bruises, but the next day Sam seemed to be unmarked. The second time Carnivore spoke, it was to Bethany. He demanded to know what a human needed to survive over a period of time.

"How much time?" she asked. He said something she didn't understand. "In human terms," she asked. He considered, head cocked as if he was listening to instructions, and finally said for years. "In space," she qualified, "including air, food, water?" He hesitated before nodding. She found the tables on her computer. She added information on sleep, clothing, temperature, waste disposal and sanitation when he asked. "You might want to remember that Sam is old," she warned.

"Meaning?" he asked after another hesitation.

"All my charts are for younger people. Older people's bodies are wearing out. He might have needs I don't know because of his age."

"All humans are fragile," the creature said disdainfully. She looked at the metal being leaving, going past Sam. The creature rubbed against him, and clicked before settling outside the door. He shut the door and came to sit beside her.

"I wonder what its first language is," she said thoughtfully, and glanced at Sam, hoping he would talk a little. Everyone was scared, and everyone wondered just what the hell was going on. He held answers, but nobody was going to press him, either. Not with those things watching.

"Those clicks," he said, amused. "Why do you ask?" He had his laptop with him, and was uploading something into the computer and making notes. She knew the other scientists were continuing with their work, because no one knew what was going to happen next and it was easier to work than to think.

"He had to stop and think for the words," she said. He shut down the laptop. "Why is all this happening?" she asked in a rush. "Nobody knows anything. I mean, we knew about the flitter, but not even the people who saw really believed in it-"

He held up a hand. "That was the reason I couldn't come into space," Sam said. "I knew they would come after me if they found out. Soundwave is a communications expert, and he's been using the satellites to gather information for about sixty plus years now. "

"So we've known about them for over sixty years-"

He sighed. Just then the captain came in. "I was about to go to lunch," he said. "I could use some company."

"All right," Sam said. Bethany got up, disappointed. "And we can go over some ancient history while we eat."

They were joined by the others within about fifteen minutes. They stayed there over three hours, while Sam talked over a meal no one tasted and coffee that someone renewed periodically.

"So, this thing downloaded itself to your_ brain_?" the one of the astronomy experts said.

"You think you have a problem with that? They," he waved at Carnivore sitting outside the door, lounging, "hate it. I was in denial for decades. I thought I just got information from the shard. My friends knew better, but they let me keep my illusions. They figured there was a reason."

"So what happens if you die?" the captain asked, seeing now the reason the big one insisted that Sam be kept in good health.

"I've been working on that."

"Dying?" Bethany asked.

"In a human that's a given, isn't it?" he said lightly, his eyes going to Ratbat who was now across the hall. One astronomer started to close the door. "Don't bother, he'll still hear us." Ratbat clicked something, and Sam just stared at him. He growled. Sam's expression did not change. He hesitated, and then went back to his lounging. "When you see one of them hesitate like that, they're contacting Soundwave," Sam warned them.

"What are the clicks?" the captain asked. He got up to get a new cup of coffee. The old one was stone cold. Sam's story was incredible, but the proof was sitting there at the door, and on the ship, taking them God knows where. When asked, Sam said flatly that he was clueless.

"Their language. Humans can't speak it. There's a fair amount that we can't even hear. They can learn and speak our languages easily, so normally communication's not a problem, except for speech idiom. Bee had a terrible time understanding why we said we answered the phone when it didn't talk. Things like that. "Sam sipped coffee.

"And you've been working with them since you were sixteen," Bethany marveled. "With the Autobots. And these," she gestured at Ratbat, "have been after you since then."

"Well, for a portion of that they just wanted to kill me," Sam said wryly. "And for two years I was just a student like any other. I really didn't start doing anything much until I was eighteen and the shard activated the information in my mind. Your brain is a kind of computer, just an organic one."

"And you said you actually died," another astronomer marveled. "And you were brought back? Like you brought back Optimus?" Sam nodded. "At eighteen. Sounds like your life was some kind of wild ride."

Sam smiled. "You could say that. But for the most part, I did have a human life, just a busy one. Building a company, raising a family." The smile faded. He stood up and stretched. They took that as the signal that story time was over, and dispersed. Sam headed for a place he could see outside. He was the first to see that they were approaching something. His heart twisted, and he turned to see Carnivore behind him. From then on they were on his heels constantly.

On the next day, the captain warned everyone to strap in, that it looked like they were landing. The creations herded Sam to the kitchen area and then to his room. Sam took the hints, got something to eat and showered. Heaven and Primus only knew when he might get another chance. Then they herded him back to the others. The ship landed more easily than anyone would have anticipated.

"Come out, humans. Come out, pet." The command came from outside the shuttle. It was not the cold metallic voice of Soundwave, but it frightened everyone just the same.

"Pet?" one of the astronomers asked.

"That's me," Sam said tonelessly. He closed his eyes. He knew that harsh commanding voice. He felt the strange calm envelope him. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes, stood up, and gathered his courage. The creations surrounded him, but when he began heading for the door, Carnivore went with him, while the other humans were herded by the other creations. Carnivore let the others go ahead of him. They were pushed to the side, and Sam walked out alone. When he had gotten past the door, he stopped to look around.

It was uncomfortably cold, but not freezing. The air was dry. The docking bay was large enough to accommodate the two large Decepticons that were standing in it. They ignored the other humans, looking only at the last one that came out.

Soundwave in his robot form was not as big as Megatron, but as Optimus said, he was formidable. He looked like the typical Cybertronian, but in midnight blue and silver. Sam took that much in before his eyes went to the other Decepticon. Megatron had not changed. Sam looked down, afraid the hate that ran through him would show on his face. The gloat in his voice was enough to make Sam's stomach clench. "So, pet, how does it feel to be betrayed by your own kind? " Sam said nothing. "Do you remember what I told you the last time I saw you? When the priest failed to detach the All-Spark from you?"

""Fools. I thought I would finally have a chance to rip the flesh from your bones, pet, but once again I stand disappointed. However, I still have a use for you, and a pen that you will not break out of,'" Sam quoted tonelessly. Swoop had not failed, but Sam saw no reason to enlighten the Decepticon leader. He could hear the other humans murmuring in horror.

"Ah, so you heard me. Here there is no one to fight and die for you, no rat's hole to find and escape from. Look at me." Sam's gaze moved up to meet Megatron's. "Come here." Sam walked to the Decepticon leader, who bent to pick him up. Sam made no move to resist. "You are more worn since I held you last," Megatron observed maliciously. "My brother has used you hard, pet."

Sam wanted to argue. His eyes went down to the other humans huddling together, watching in dread as he was held by clawed hands that could crush him any moment. He said nothing. Megatron put a claw to his head and nudged Sam to face him again. "You are mine again, pet, and this time there is no escape. " He savored the despair Sam could not keep off of his face. Sam felt a sharp pain in his neck. He jumped convulsively. "Female. Get his belongings. He will need them."

Bethany went. Despair was in every move Sam made, and the bigger monster loved it. He emphasized the word 'pet' because Sam flinched when he heard it. At the same time, when he picked Sam up the monster handled Sam carefully, as though he was important and should not be hurt. Inside she could at least get away from that sight.

When she saw Sam with the battery out and his hand reaching into the case, she thought he was going to take himself out, and that he did not have time before the creature jumped at him. She had recommended the suicide watch to the captain. Now she understood why, and decided that she would make certain he had anything he needed.

Sam felt a familiar weakness begin to move through him. Megatron was using the same nanites Swoop used when Swoop tried to take the All-Spark. Where had he gotten them? He could see the other members of the crew below, looking up at him in fear for him and themselves. He saw Bethany going into the ship, Carnivore padding behind her. Numbness spread over his skin and limbs and he jerked a few times as the nanites worked on him. Bethany emerged with suitcases, with Carnivore dragging another. Sam wondered at that; he had not brought that much, had he?

"Put the humans back into their little ship and take them back to their orbit," Megatron ordered. "I want my brother to know I have my pet back." Sam saw the crew herded back into the ship. He had just enough feeling left to close his eyes. He could tell he was being moved, wrapped in something, and laid down, but he felt nothing. "So fragging fragile, and yet I feel the power in you," the Decepticon leader rumbled. "I need the information in that inadequate brain, pet. " There was the sound of something closing.

An unknown time later there was brightness against his eyelids. He could hear something, muffled, speaking harsh Cybertronian. He was aware that he smelled awful, and that he was terribly thirsty. He was still numb. He thought he was being moved. Something slid into his nose and down his throat, and in his throat it hurt, but the hollowness in his stomach was being filled. Whatever was withdrew, leaving a feeling of soreness behind it, but he found that his mouth was not as dry.

He was being moved again. The stale smell left, to his relief. He was worried for a time, then remembered that he had talked Sheena into making an internal pocket for the device. She thought he was nuts, but he told her that if pacemakers could work that way, this thing could. He wondered distantly what scans would show. Then some kind of energy moved over him. It was an electromagnetic pulse, something he knew from the presence, not from his human senses. It must have destroyed the nanites, as he began to tingle. He was shivering. Something misted onto his face that he breathed in. It tasted foul in the back of his throat where the soreness still lingered, but in its aftermath he felt a relaxation in limbs that otherwise would be cramped and painful. After the tingling, feeling was returning, and he could feel the cold now. He was wrapped in something warm, and carried.

He could open his eyes again. It did not do him any good. It was dark, except for a red glow he could see out of the corner of his eye. It was above him, and from the shape he could barely discern, the glow came from optics. The Decepticon was cursing and complaining. He looked up as it laid him on something that felt like the softness of a bed. He was aware now that underneath the wrap, he was naked. He saw shapes being placed in with him, and then the glow moved and was gone. Between the dark, and the warmth, and the feeding, and the drug, he did not care. As he was sliding back into sleep, he heard the 'Con above him snort.

"Good little squishy," the stranger Con said mockingly, "that's right, recharge. Tomorrow's soon enough to have to deal with you any further."

* * *

Sam heard someone coming in, and listened. Whoever they were bringing did not want to come. As this was one of the labs on the Decepticon base, Sam closed his laptop and headed out to see what was going on.

For the last few weeks since he woke up in his pen in the lab, he spent his time organizing his pen and doing his best to avoid the notice of the 'cons that came into the room. He had about as much privacy as a fish in an aquarium.

Only his long experience as a negotiator for the bots and the company enabled him to ignore the comments of the Decepticons around him and keep his knowledge of Cybertronian quiet. His keeper was Searcher, an organic scientist who had worked with Fixer and had the rogue researcher's notes. Some of the pen's furnishings showed that Searcher both had an imagination, and that while he had worked with organic life forms before, he had not worked with humans before.

Searcher checked in with Sam daily to be sure everything was working and that Sam did not need anything. In the first few days, theydid a lot of negotiating, between what Sam wanted and what Searcher was willing to give him. Searcher held Fixer's notes, the materials to put together the pen for Sam, and a lot of questions, but no idea what Sam should or should not have.

With equal parts stubbornness and patient explanation, Sam got Searcher to let him set up and program the energon battery generator, to program the temperature controls of the heat pump, to give Sam the shelves and the appliances and the food. Sam had to demonstrate the use of every item and explain why he needed it. If Searcher got the idea that an item was a luxury, the keeper held it back. He had a lot of questions, and made it clear that answers would get Sam his extras.

Sam would have had a harder time if Searcher had not left his luggage alone, believing the Master had already cleared it. Sam found snacks and toiletries in his luggage he would otherwise not have, including both his personal laptop and the work laptop. The computers were so much a part of Sam's life that he would have been lost without them. He remembered Poppy saying in exasperation that he would go into technological withdrawal without his computers.

Some of the questions Searcher asked concerned the use of soap and toilet paper, and other 'cultural absurdities." Sam answered until Searcher wanted to get a little more personal. Then Sam stalled. He refused to discuss his family It wowith any Con. He noticed some odd behavior on Searcher's part more than once, and had to wonder why. Searcher ranged from arrogance to friendly curiosity to arrogance again. One night, after a deep, long sleep, Sam found out why.

Only a few years ago, the Decepticons created a virus causing any bot to see humans as deadly threats. When Sunstreaker came to join his twin Sideswipe, the Starscream attacked the arriving twin and infected before allowing him to get away. The newly appearing twin found Sam and the sparklings at the meadow, as Optimus and other Autobots went to find who had arrived. Sam fixed Sunstreaker, and the presence in him detected the virus and deactivated it. The next day, the presence gave Sam a program that both removed the virus and protected bots from being infected.

For most of a year, the Autobots on Earth battled the virus spreading to the neutral bots on Earth and going berserk on humans, mostly in cities. Only when they found Grimlock, Sludge, Swoop, Snarl and Slag and enlisted their aid did they finally stop the virus. Optimus told Sam that the antihuman virus was not the first one the Decepticons used.

Searcher was infected by a virus, but it was so deeply a part of his programming now that removing it would be a long process. The presence gave Sam the removal program. The next time Searcher wanted a physical exam, Sam only put up a token argument, enough that Searcher thought he wanted some of the better food and a set of shelves for his clothes badly enough to endure the process. Normally Sam gave Searcher a hard time, arguing and moving around so that the keeper could not easily get hold of him.

Sam hated the exams, because they were done outside the shield. The Cybertronians did not need heat or much atmosphere. Sam returned to the shield freezing, hyperventilating, and swearing that next time Searcher could heat up the whole damned lab before he went through that kind of torture again. Searcher just waited until Sam was breathing normally and no longer shaking with cold before he went to get the promised shelves and the better kinds of meals he used to bribe Sam into cooperation.

Sam got a shower to warm up, satisfied that he had effectively planted the remedy, and hoping it would work. Over the next few days he paid a little more attention to the less arrogant 'cons who wandered in to see him, but the presence did not sense the virus in any others.

This was the first time anyone was dragged into the lab, though. When Sam came out to see what was going on, he saw an Autobot symbol on the prisoner, and his heart froze for a time. The bot cursed up a storm in Cybertronian. The Earth bots regularly mixed human language with their cursing. The guards knocked their restrained prisoner around until they tired of the game and strapped him down to a lab table next to Sam's pen.

This Autobot was grey and white with lights on either side of its head. Sam did not see any signs of an alt form. Nothing else, not even being forced to stand and allow himself to be handled by Megatron again, made him feel as helpless as seeing an ally beaten into submission like this one was. The 'cons gave the prisoner one last blow and got up to leave. One was Hook, who Sam remembered from Egypt as one of the construction 'cons that managed to survive. The construction con saw him pressed against the barrier and laughed, pointing, before leaving with the rest.

God, the bot was only a few feet from him! If he could just get his hands over to him! He could feel the spark wavering; but if there were no repairs soon, he could die. Unless they planned to take his spark- No, came the answer to that thought, and Sam was relieved. Optimus totally destroyed the information, and totally destroyed Fixer. Even if somewhere that information survived, the presence would send the spark on if that threat appeared. Sam knew he would not survive rescuing another spark."Can you hear me?" he said.

"Yeah," the bot responded. Then the door opened again, and another bot was dragged in. This one was not moving, and his optics were dull. Sam sensed that he still functioned. They slammed him down on the table on the other side of Sam's cage, and applied restraints. Then one of them reached behind the bot-Sam could see the Autobot symbol clearly- and did something. The bot's optics went on, and the bots gave off a pain sound.

"Oh, shut up," one of the 'cons said, and they stomped out of the door. Sam closed his eyes and concentrated. The spark was not in as bad shape as the one with the lights on his head, but he was not in good shape.

"Percy?" The grey and white bot called.

"My name is Perceptor, Jack," came the reply.

Percy? What the hell kind of name was that for a bot? And Jack? Sam thought, and remembered there he had seen that name and that correction before.

"Perceptor? You're not Wheeljack, are you?" Sam asked, as the pieces came together.

The charged silence answered Sam even before they said, almost in unison, "How would you know that?" Perceptor added, "You sound odd."

"Dear God in heaven and Primus in the Matrix," Sam said. "I'm Sungeneer on the message boards. I never knew the two of you were bots." Sam remembered telling Bumblebee about the wild ideas that two of the engineers on the message boards came up with. If they were Autobots, Bee probably knew them, and would have reported the incident to Optimus. If all of them were missing, Optimus would be able to put the pieces together just as Sam did.

"You aren't?" Wheeljack asked.

"No. I'm human, Sam Witwicky." Sam was fairly sure they would know his name.

The door opened. Sam could tell more than one entered, and that one was bigger than the other from the footsteps. Sam's heart started to slam as Megatron came into view. "

"It seems my team is assembled," he purred.


	6. Chapter 6

Final Project Chapter Six

Thanks to Marinelife37 for the idea about Soundwave

I do not own Transformers, though I wish I did.

Wheeljack was in pain, and he knew that his injuries were bad. He and Perceptor were testing a new weapon when the Cons attacked. Due to the erratic nature of most of Wheejack's tests, they were on an asteroid near the base. The attackers temporarily off-lined PErceptorbefore either of them knew what was going on. The rest ganged up on Wheeljack. The engineer fought hard, and he had the advantage that they were taking him alive, but eventually there were too many of them. They were gone before anyone from the base could come to their aid.

Desperately afraid of what the Decepticons planned for them, Wheeljack kept struggling. Hook and the others played with him until they got here. The engineer barely got a glimpse of the next table before being strapped down, and that glimpse made no sense. The voice that spoke to him was soft and frightened, and Wheeljack could not figure out who it might be.

He heard when they brought in someone else and strapped it down. Preceptor answered the nickname the way he always did, and the first voice piped up again, sounding shocked. The following short conversation had Wheeljack's processor spinning. Sungeneer was a human? And not only a human but the human that worked with Optimus and the others on the Earth base, and was rumored to hold the All-Spark?

Wheeljack had something of a problem with that. The All-Spark was power, whatever else it was, and how in the name of Primus and the Matrix could a human handle that?

When Megatron came in, Wheeljack knew they were all dead. The only hope they had was that it would be quick, and he held little hope of that. How Megatron referred to the human was strange."Come out, pet, and do not play games with me. I only _need_ one of these."

What followed gave information and led to more questions. The humans answered questions in a flat voice. A lot of the questions were ones that Wheeljack expected, on the Autobot base. The human answered them without giving the Decepticons much of a problem. Wheeljack at one time despised and understood why he would talk. Humans were fragile, from what he understood, but he thought that they had more guts than that.

Hook asked where the traps would be. That question was followed by silence. There was a buzz, and a soft sound. The question was repeated, met with silence, and the second buzz was followed by a sharper cry. The third time, there was the sound of something falling, and the human admitted that after his capture, the most commonly used routes would be trapped and new means created that he would not know about. After that, Wheeljack thought better of the creature; directing the drones and smaller 'cons past traps was better than not answering at all.

"Clever, pet," Megatron snapped, clearly displeased. The questioning went on. Wheeljack noted how the human would word his answers carefully. Sometimes Hook or Searcher caught on; often they did not. If they did, the human was much more closely questioned, with the buzzes followed by what Wheeljack figured were sounds of pain, sometimes the sound of the human falling. Some of the questions made little sense to Wheeljack, but clearly did to Megatron and the human. The human sometimes referenced a 'presence' which would do something.

"And how are my sparklings?" Wheeljack remembered that there were three sparklings at the Earth base, their origin being vague. The humans answered after two shocks, giving designations and talking about the obstacle course Ironhide used to train them. "Who named them?" Megatron demanded. The human said they had named themselves. Wheeljack understood that- when sparklings became scarce among the Autobots, they started to name themselves when old enough. It was a right of passage to tell your creator a designation. If the creator accepted the name, the sparkling was a youngling, and formal training began.

Evidently the Decepticon leader knew that tradition, because the next question came out in a dangerous purr. "And who did they give that name to?"

"After asking me how they were created," the human said, "they told me."

"And what did you tell them?" Megatron demanded.

"The sparklings were told the full tale by the All-Spark through the host that consented to be used for their creation," the human said, and his voice echoed. Wheeljack felt power of some kind rising. "Do not dare to pretend that any being can take my place in that creation, you who were once Lord High Protector. You will remember that you received my power at one time, and I do not believe that you enjoyed the experience."

The buzz came again. The human shrieked, and immediately afterward followed a sound that Wheeljack knew very well. In the ringing silence that came after the explosion, the sound of the human collapsing was very loud.

"Master, the human's heart-"Searcher said in panic, and then more calmly, "has stabilized."

"Hook, I told you to utilize the punishment when the machine showed he lied or he refused to answer," Megatron snarled, and delivered a sharp blow to emphasize his displeasure. "See the human is cared for and put him in his pen," the Decepticon leader commanded harshly. "I will continue later."

Wheeljack privately doubted that. Now he knew that the 'presence' was the All-Spark. He also knew how the human managed the power. He didn't; it managed him. Megatron got a reminder that while he might hold the human that was the All-Spark's host, he would never control the All-Spark itself.

Wheeljack heard the sound of the human dropped into the cage. Hook mutter to himself as he left. Soon after someone else came in and got him. Some time later, the some Con came back and reopened the cage. As he left, Wheeljack could hear the human breathing in a regular pattern.

Searcher looked down at the human, very troubled. The researcher thought of the strange conversation it just had.

At first, Searcher was not pleased to be saddled with the care of a human that it could not experiment with. The Master told him bluntly that Searcher was the only one he currently trusted to keep the human without killing him. The human needed to remain healthy and completely contained. Searcher's pride was hurt; he was too valuable to be just the keeper of the master's pet human. Only the chance to observe and study a human, even under such restricted conditions, reconciled him to the task.

Sam turned out to be intriguing, as had Fixer's notes. Fixer had kept human pets for the entire time he was on Earth, and those notes included comments on this human, who had been his last subject. Fixer stated without any question that Sam held the All-Spark, and observed the progression of events as the human was forced to acknowledge that presence, and then how the presence manifested to defend its host, time and again. How Fixer found Sam in the research room, with the equipment destroyed and the sparklings squatting over the inert form of the human. Fixer noted that the human was in a great deal of pain afterward for several days, and in Fixer's opinion had come close to dying.

Searcher gave Sam the bare basics he needed to survive and then bribed him with improvements to get his cooperation, as Fixer said worked best with humans. He consistently observed Sam, and scanned him as often as he could manage. Thus far the only real anomaly he found in the human was a device under a shoulder blade, which seemed to be inert. While an interesting subject, Sam was a human; in remarkably good condition for his age, and undoubtedly intelligent for a human, but only a human.

But from the time of the last exam, Searcher knew something had happened. If Sam was not a human, he would have thought he had gotten some kind of download, but since humans were not capable of such, Searcher dismissed the idea.

Then he started feeling strange at times. There were feelings of unease when remembering some of its past. Memories that had been gone for centuries began to surface, and he did not like those memories.

Today, when Sam was being questioned, Searcher had the strongest feeling that he should stop the questioning and that the Master's actions were wrong. As Sam was shocked to force him to answer the questions, Searcher began to remember incidents that were centuries old. Memories of refusing to cooperate with the Master's representative, and getting something forced onto it. That was followed by pain, which then ended, and it knew that it was wrong and the Master must be obeyed.

Then the All-Spark spoke through the human; Searcher _knew, _deep in his spark_, _that Sam alone was not speaking. Hook punished the human gleefully. Searcher almost winced at the cry of pain. Then Sam glowed, and power backlashed through the attachments to fry the machine. Sam collapsed, but the restraints were on the floor beside him. For a moment, Searcher was sure Sam was dead; his heart was running far too fast, but settled seconds later.

The Master questioned him on the human, but Searcher could see his master's mind was elsewhere, and soon after he dismissed the scientist. Finding Sam still on the floor of his pen where Hook left him, Searcher took him out and cared for him as Fixer's notes instructed. Done, he wrapped Sam in a warm covering and asked, "What did you do to me?"

"You had a virus," Sam told him, words so soft the researcher had to strain to hear him. "The presence gave me a removal. I downloaded it when you examined me the last time."

"But a human can't do that-"

"The presence and I have melded enough for me to channel its power. I can download some things because of that, but it has to be something it gives me." Searcher noted that Sam's heart beat hard and that he fought to breath. He would need to be back in the pen soon; he needed more oxygen. "If there are others-pass it on."

"If I can safely, I will. I was neutral in the beginning of the war," Searcher said slowly. "I remember the change, barely. It was so long ago." He held the human, keeping him warm in him hands. Sam fell asleep, and the researcher looked down at him.

So, Searcher thought, I was forced to change. That violation felt remote. With the removal of the virus, the researcher could think, and he decided that he was going to do exactly that. Carefully Searcher put Sam back in the pen, but this time on the bed. He considered the two Autobots on the lab tables. There were possibilities here.

The next day Sam got up and went through his normal morning routine with only some residual weakness. He was not sure what Searcher was going to do; the researcher may have been forced to change, but he was a Decepticon for a longer time than Sam could fathom, and old habits died hard. He was sure he could count on Searcher not talking about losing the virus, however. Megatron would never trust him again, if indeed the Decepticon did not kill the researcher immediately.

"Sungeneer," Perceptor said. Sam looked over from making his bed. Just like he had when he was held before, he was bored enough that he kept his pen neat and as clean as possible. Searcher was more than happy to let him.

"Call me Sam, please," Sam said. "That was just a name for the message boards. Did you really think that I was a bot?"

"We couldn't think of anyone else who would want the information you were looking for," Wheeljack said from the other side. "What about Energizer?"

"Sorry, he's human, too. All the workers at the energon plants are human, except for the security. He's one of the engineers at the main plant. He was going to be on the shuttle instead of me, but he got sick. Do you really blow things up a lot?"

"You made him feel right at home yesterday," Perceptor said. Sam laughed and went to get his breakfast together. "Can you tell us how you got here?"

Sam explained as his breakfast heated up. Silence followed, giving him time to eat.

"So Optimus let you leave the base?" Wheeljack said, voice soft with shock.

"There was no 'let' about it." Sam's voice chilled. "Bert and I went because the new battery needed to be tested. When he got sick, I had everything set up so I could supervise from Earth; the ship's captain was perfectly capable of doing the adjustments. I had Prowl and Bumblebee along with my human bodyguards. It was human treachery that got me up here." Wheeljack made a huffy noise.

"Some of the humans wanted you to be on the shuttle to work on the battery if it needed it, because they thought the project would go faster? Didn't they know you would be in danger in space?" Perceptor asked.

"No. The existence of you guys is not generally known to humans. They understood that I refused, that I was afraid to go. They have influence in the human government and society, and believed that once they managed to get me onto the shuttle, that they would be excused if the mission succeeded, and that they could escape serious punishment."

"Will they get away with it?" Perceptor asked, curious.

"They'll be very lucky if the human authorities get to them first," Sam said with certainty. "Which I doubt."

"Optimus had no business letting you off the base even-" Wheeljack said hotly.

"Jack, there is no 'let'. To the Earth bots, I am an ally and a friend, not a pet and not a possession. If Optimus ever started to restrict the movement of the Autobot's strongest ally on Earth, the bots lose the trust of every Earth government, and soon after, would lose the right to stay on the planet. That would be bad for Earth, but worse for you guys. All the energon I know of is made there. Humans have uses for it too. There are plenty of officials in the government who would love to have a reason to take over the energon plants and start trying to make weapons with them." Sam dealt with some of his dishes a little roughly.

"But-"

"We were getting pressure from the human government. The space solar storage battery was a way to get some industries into space, and we need that. The humans on the planet outnumber the bots by about a billion to one, so I think maybe that you'd agree that working with them is something of a good idea?"

"You talk like Bluestreak," Wheeljack grumbled, tactically acknowledging that Sam might be right without admitting it.

"Then don't talk about Optimus treating me like the Decepticons do. " Silence reigned for a time. Sam finished cleaning up breakfast, and pulled out his laptop.

"Ah, Sam? Could you tell us how you got the All-Spark?" Perceptor asked.

"It's a long story."

"I think we have time," Wheeljack said dryly. Sam looked at them, worried. They had not been touched, and were still firmly latched to the lab tables. There was no way of knowing whose turn was next. Well, the least he could do was distract them a little. Sam put up his laptop and started talking.

In another room, Hook and Searcher listened. The recorders went in when Sam was brought in, but there had been some problems that were not completely cleared until the Autobots were brought in.

Hook listened in amusement to Sam scolding the engineer over his right to free movement on Earth. Of course Optimus should have kept the human Cube confined in safety, or he would not be here now. Searcher thought about what Sam was saying about politics, and remembered Cybertron and its factions. Then they listened to Sam talking about his first encounter with the Autobots. They snorted in amusement as Sam described getting the car that turned out to be Bumblebee.

Neither of them knew about the Master being trapped in the cold, and held by the humans. Hook knew that the Master was off-lined but not how. They listened as Sam described finding the shard and the glyphs appearing in his mind. Hook snickered as Sam described being held down as the Doctor explored Sam's brain, and how the doctor intended to take it.

"It wouldn't have worked," Sam said. "I checked later. Memories in humans are chemical; if the brain is taken from the body and dies, the memory it holds dies. "

"So what happens when you die?" Perceptor asked. "What happens to the All-Spark?"

"I've been downloading the information from the Cube into a prototype," Sam told them. "It's gotten enough of the information and the power put into it that when I die, it can transfer to that prototype, making another Cube." Hook left, delighted to have news to take to its master. Searcher continued to listen as Sam told the rest of the story, about Optimus dying, and Sam's search to find out what the glyphs meant and to revive Optimus.

Then Sam asked some questions about matters that appeared on the message boards, and the two bots explained, with the conversation becoming technical. Sam described how the space solar battery had needed a lot of calibration. They speculated on the reason. Searcher heard the tiny sounds of clicks as Sam used his little memory device.

"Though why I'm making notes when I have no idea how I'm going to get the information to Bert, I don't know," he said despondently. "Hey, how did you guys access the internet, anyway?" That led to more technical talk. Searcher started to leave.

"Why do you think we're here anyway?" Wheeljack wondered. "I mean, no offence, Sam, but of course Megatron wants you, you've got the All-Spark. "

"My value as a possession was pointed out to be when he had me before," Sam said with extreme bitterness. Searcher chilled at the tone. "I swore I would never come back to that if I had to die first. And when Soundwave got the shuttle-" He stopped. "I was really glad that the download worked," he said after a moment. "I thought that I was free, after that, to die if the time came. If the need came."

"But-" Wheeljack said, and stopped. He could not understand how anyone could end their existence, except in the heat of battle or danger when a sacrifice was needed.

"The presence wouldn't let me," he said softly, painfully. "I started to do it, I had my hand an inch from the contacts. It would have been quick, painless. No chance I would betray my friends or family. And the presence stopped me. There's one final project I have to finish. "

"You mean you'll die when it's done?" Perceptor asked.

"Not that as much as it would let me go in that kind of situation. I mean that it needs to be done while I'm capable of doing it. Humans don't live very long, guys. I'm not the oldest human by any means. For my age my physical condition is excellent, and that's due to the presence. But it can't stop me from aging. We don't know if it's the downloading, or channeling the power in other ways, or simply that I'm human and that's how we are, but my body's showing a lot of signs of wear."

"But you can't work on it here," Wheeljack said.

Sam was quiet for a time. "The presence doesn't take sides," he said finally. "And any information I have, it has. Anything I learn, it knows. So if I find a way to make that project work here, and then I die, that information goes to the Cube prototype along with the presence, so working on it here means the most would get it. " There was silence in the lab, except for the sound of Sam putting up his memory device and his movements, which led Searcher to believe that he was refueling. That was good; Searcher worried sometimes that his charge did not refuel enough. Finally one of the Autobots said, "But would it force you to work on this? Can it?"

The human sighed, and told an incredible story. Searcher knew about the virus; it had helped to create it. None of the Decepticons knew why the virus failed. Sam told the virus story and how the dinobot Swoop turned out to be the high priest of the Temple of the All-Spark, and how it had tried to remove the All-Spark from Sam. He also told them the end result of that.

"So that time I agreed to let the presence choose to come back into me if it needed to. So yes, it can put the pressure on. It might take control completely, though both of us know that's not a good thing."

"Is there any chance the neutrals can act? You did say they have to if you come to space and need them." Perceptor's voice held hope.

"If they know I'm here, and that I need help. Then they can get themselves killed trying. These bots were not soldiers, guys. The 'cons I've seen here would tear them to pieces for fun." Searcher nodded, satisfied. Now he knew who to contact.

"What is it you need to build, Sam? And what do you think Megatron wants us for?" Wheeljack said.

"I think that Soundwave monitored the message boards, and that he knows what we were discussing," Sam said. "Making energon from direct sunlight in space. "

Searcher knew now that he had something to offer the neutrals that promised him a warm welcome. As a precaution, he erased everything from the time Hook left.

Two days later, they brought in Soundwave. As soon as they heard Soundwave's cold voice, the two Autobots started struggling against their bonds. Sam retreated into the back of his pen when he heard Megatron. That did him no good at all, as Soundwave let Carnivore, Ratbat, and Laserbeak into the pen to push Sam out into the open.

They pinned him down while Soundwave questioned him. As there was no lie detector, Sam answered the questions without any prompting; he tried to act scared of the creations. Following Ironhide's advice, given decades ago when the word came that the Decepticons were to capture and not kill Sam, Sam told the truth when he thought the matter was small and talked around the ones that were important. Ironhide had advised that he was a lousy liar so he would be better at evading. He was long past the two days Ironhide wanted him to hold out, but he had not intention of giving the Decepticons anything if he could help it.

Soundwave started doing something and Sam started giggling in the middle of the questioning, and moved to convulsive, hysterical whoops when Soundwave concentrated. The questioning stopped. Sam struggled to get his breath and calm down. He had no idea what Soundwave was trying, but it tickled. He almost started laughing again at the bafflement Soundwave was expressing with body language, but his stomach hurt too much.

Megatron only looked sour, as it was clear that whatever they expected, it was not to have Sam howl with laughter. Sam was glad that the Decepticons did not know that in some cultures tickling was a torture.

Then Soundwave produced something that looked like a hamster ball, human size. That sobered Sam fast. The creations let him up, and he bolted for the back of the pen again. This time he struggled when they came after him. When Carnivore drew blood trying to catch hold of him, Megatron barked at them. "If I want my pet damaged, fools, I'll do it myself!"

Soundwave withdrew them, and reached a tentacle into the pen, wrapping Sam around the chest and pinning his arms. Soon after, Sam was in the ball and outside the pen, glowering. The creations rolled the ball around and Sam tumbled in it. Megatron and Soundwave allowed the game for a time, until Sam managed to brace himself so that he did not move when the ball did. Then Megatron picked the ball up.

"Watch," he said, voice a purr. Heart in his mouth, Sam braced himself. Soundwave moved over to Wheeljack, who fought as hard as he could against his bonds. Then every piece of his body stiffened, bowed in protest as Soundwave did to him what he had tried with Sam. He screamed, sending Sam to his knees.

Soundwave moved back, and Wheeljack collapsed back into the table. His spark wavered, before settling slightly. Sam bit his lip, unsure what to do. He wanted to fix the bot so badly that it hurt, the presence in him feeling the need and pushing, but he knew Megatron would exact a price. His muscles protested, and he found he was almost unbearably tensed. His throat was thick, and he was holding back tears with effort.

"Soundwave is a telepath," Megatron informed Sam. "I understand the process is unpleasant." Turning to Soundwave, he added, "Did you get what I wanted?"

"He can build what we need but needs a design," Soundwave stated coldly. He moved to Perceptor, who was shaking. When Soundwave leaned over it, Perceptor screamed. "Do not resist," the telepath said in its cold voice. "You only cause yourself more pain." Perceptor cursed it in Cybertronian. "Please yourself." The screams went on and on. Soundwave stopped after a time, and the noise stopped. Sam was crying.

"If I push further, Master, there is danger of off-lining. I believe that he is the same, however. With a design, he can build the machine."

Sam wiped his face hastily as Megatron moved over to Perceptor and placed the ball on his restrained body. "So, pet, do you have a design?"

"For what?" he asked, his voice shaking. He couldn't heal through the ball. Neither of the bots was in danger enough that the presence would respond without touch.

Though he got basic training as a basis for self-defense and arms training, Sam was never in combat himself. The one time he was on a battlefield, the battle was stalled as no one would put him in danger. Unlike the Prime, Sam was never forced to make decisions that would sacrifice soldiers, as a fighting leader does. Until today he witnessed no torture. He knew Megatron would not kill him, but as he said, he did not need both scientists.

"I monitored the transmissions and know that you discussed beginning the design for a machine that would use direct starlight to make energon, without the filtering effect of an atmosphere." Soundwave said coldly. "That was several solar revolutions ago." Sam looked puzzled. "Years ago. You should have a design by now."

Sam said nothing.

"Which one should I kill first, pet?" Megatron asked, and waited as Sam visibly wavered. "Give me the design and I will not only leave them both alive, I will allow you to fix them." Silence stretched. Soundwave came to loom over Perceptor again. Sam could feel the bot tremble through the ball.

"On my computer," Sam said. "It's a preliminary design."

* * *

On Earth, Optimus Prime was at Annabelle Lennox's ranch, talking to the dinobots. They were standing in a circle near where Sam's trial had been held.

"Sam told us that Swoop and the others who were here were reprogrammed. They must help Sam if he goes into space, to the point of giving their lives," Sludge said earnestly.

"So this offer is genuine," Optimus said, still not believing it.

"Swoop is looking for a way to survive obeying that programming," Grimlock rumbled. " We know space, we know the neutrals and how to deal with them, and we have some idea where Sam is. We are the best chance Sam has of getting out."

"The All-Spark released you from its service," Optimus reminded them.

"Into your service, because you are the Prime and will do as it needs," Snarl said. "We are the best ones to send. Do you know what Megatron wants?"

"I believe so. Two of my scientists were taken only a few days ago. I believe they were taken to work with Sam to create a machine to make energon from sunlight in space." The dinobots communed. Slag shook its massive head.

"If we tell Swoop and the others that, we could get Sam out, but we won't get him back," the teacher said grimly. "Everyone in space would want that. We have to strike a deal. It won't work any other way, programming or no programming. "

"I am prepared for that. Simply enough, we can make more than one machine, if it is possible to make the machine at all. Sam tried before and failed. "

The dinobots nodded, not needing to commune on that one. "That would work. Now, we will need a way to keep Sam alive once we leave for the base-"

The planning went on for some time.

Not long afterward there was a return message to the neutrals, monitored carefully by Sludge to be sure it remained secure. Then another message went out, also carefully monitored, to the Autobot base.

Soundwave intercepted the second message. Two days later, led by Grimlock, the dinobots followed the trace Sludge implanted on the transmission.

The United Nations had trouble with some of their satellites for over twelve hours. An aircraft carrier received several packages designed to join certain other relics on the floor of the Marianas Trench not too much later. One of the space shuttles added a new consignment to its supplies for one of the human space colonies.

Optimus was encouraged enough to hope it might see his friend again, but said nothing to Sam's family or the other Autobots except that arrangements were being made. Supervision of the younglings went on rotation while Slag was on assignment, with Ironhide arranging training.


	7. Chapter 7

Final Project Chapter Seven

I do not own Transformers; I only borrow the ideas and characters for my own and hopefully reader's enjoyment.

Megatron did follow through on his bargain to Sam. Wheeljack had no idea what Megatron meant when he said Sam could fix them, but when Sam gave him the design, Wheeljack felt a weight onhis chassis and soon after felt power flowing through him. His spark pulsed with the power, and Wheeljack could feel the repairs. When the weight lifted, Wheeljack felt better than he had in vorns. Perceptor vented in relief after a time.

Wheeljack heard the shield open and close, and then the sounds meaning that Megatron and Soundwave left. It could hear Sam moving, and eventually figured out that Sam was in pain. "Sam? Are you hurt?"

"Yes," Sam said, its voice hitching and uneven. "The healing hurts. Don't worry; I'll be fine once I can sleep." Eventually the moving sounds ended with a rustling sound. There was a quiet sound Sam was making, but after a time his breathing leveled, indicating that he was in recharge.

Wheeljack was glad of the silence. Sam might be able to use the All-Spark power to repair, but that did not stop the feeling of violation from Soundwave's invasion of his processor. That damned 'con had poked in his thoughts and memories and left. Wheeljack knew he got anything it wanted. Listening to Preceptor scream did not help. Wheeljack was ashamed at how relieved he was when Sam gave them the design.

"Jack," Perceptor's voice came across the lab, speaking Cybertronian. "Did Sam fix you too?" At Wheeljack's agreement, he added, "He's full of surprises."

"I never really believed everything they said about him at the base," Wheeljack said. "Can they come after us? I mean, if the Cube's completed if he dies? What will Optimus do?"

"I don't know," Perceptor said, troubled. "They said he's close to Optimus, and after everything they've been through together you can understand why. But getting us out of here would mean risking a lot of us, and as soon as they get attacked they'll kill us and move him, you know how the Decepticons act. Where's the good in that?"

Wheeljack pointed out. "They had to threaten us for him to give. And he told them it was preliminary. You ever had an idea work right the first time, no problems?" Perceptor had to agree that preliminary plans never worked that way. "That's why they want us to work it up. Otherwise they'd hand it to Hook or one of their scientists."

On that unhappy thought they were quiet.

As Sam said, he was better the next day, though not well. They did not mention the design again, but they did ask about the healing. Sam said that it was not the healing that hurt, so much as channeling the power. Then he began talking a little about the progression of the melding, how for decades there was little sign of the presence, how the 'cons had taken him once and tormented him, and how he did not remember exactly what happened but he had been put down, and then rescued by Optimus.

He talked about the time he had healed Bumblebee one time, when his closest friend was dying. He spoke, very softly, of the death of his wife, and how he had grieved for her for years. About how someone had harvested the material for the Cube-

"That was me," Wheeljack admitted. Both Red Alert and Optimus chewed him out for that stunt.

"Thanks," Sam said sincerely. Then he went on to talk about the download, and his second capture by the Decepticons, about how the questioning and about the times that he had been endangered and the presence responded.

"Could they do that to us?" Wheeljack blurted out.

"No. The presence would send your sparks on. I asked." Perceptor asked how Sam communicated with the presence. Sam explained.

"It's much clearer now, after the stunt Swoop pulled," he said wryly. "Not easy, but easier."

"So you've worked with Optimus since you were no more than a youngling," Perceptor said.

"Hey, most of the time that's been a good thing for me," Sam said. "The company might be owned by the Nation of Cybertron in exile, but I get one percent of the profits for my own personal use, and I'm considered rich. I've had everything I ever needed and most of what I wanted. I've done work I'm proud of. Not so many humans can say that. "

"Do you have family?" Wheeljack asked. Sam laughed and told them stories about his children. He got an occasional laugh from them, especially about Poppy's antics hiding from Bumblebee, and how Optimus and Ironhide would tell stories to the children about other planets but were fascinated with how he and the children could find constellations and cloud pictures when they could not. They laughed hard at Sam's story of how Poppy, a teenager at the time, smacked a newly-arrived First Aid on the ankle with one of Ratchet's wrenches and yelled at him to put her boyfriend down.

" To tell the truth, the bots raised them almost as much as Mikaela and I did," he remarked. "Poppy's never been scared of the bots since she yawned at Optimus two days after she was born. Hard to think they're adults now and have their own children. Poppy and Jimmie have grandchildren. "They were astounded, and the discussion went to how often humans bred. That started a lively argument over which kind of reproduction was better.

The talk eased the tension a little through the next day. No Decepticons appeared.

Then Hook came in and took the human out. Two hours later, he brought Sam back and dumped him on the bed, so soundly asleep that when he fell from the bed he did not wake. Hook returned the next day. Sam hid, and when Hook saw him, dodged the 'con's attempts to grab him for some time. When he did catch hold of the human, Hook yelped, and immediately afterward Sam shrieked. "I'll teach you some respect," the Constructicon snarled as he carried a struggling Sam out of the room.

This time when Sam came back he moved slowly, dragging himself around the pen and moving only as much as he had to. "What's going on, Sam?" Perceptor asked. By this time they knew how Sam sounded when he was in pain.

"Hook's trying to get me to talk. Searcher's disappeared. There's a bug in here." They heard the sounds of Sam heating something to refuel with.

"How did an insect get in here?" Wheeljack asked. Sam laughed just a little, made a soft pain sound, and explained that there was a listening device in the room. Then he moved to the shower and stayed in the spray for a time, before getting to the bed to sleep.

Hook came again. Sam was still asleep. From what the bots could hear, the 'con threw the covering off. Sam yelped and cursed, but then quieted. "I think this one will work. You look so relaxed," Hook snickered. "Let me look at you. " There was the sound of movement. "Now, how did you heal those bruises so quickly?"

Bruises, Wheeljack remembered, were marks of damage to a human, a sign of bleeding under the skin. Primus, what had Sam endured yesterday? He was only a fragile human, was Hook trying to kill him? There was silence, but when Hook repeated his question, Sam said, "The presence heals me when I can get into a deep sleep." His voice was utterly calm, though soft.

"Will you be my good little squishy now and talk to me?" Sam did not speak but made an 'hmm' sound. Over the next few hours, Hook questioned the human, and Sam answered the questions in that same soft calm tone, without hesitation, and without thinking first. Sometimes the answers were nonsense, as the time that Hook asked how many children Sam had; Sam said he had three legitimately and one illegitimately.

"That doesn't make sense," Hook said.

"You're the one who made me high as a kite," Sam pointed out, and giggled dreamily. Then he added, "I'm going to throw up."

That phrase made no sense to the bots, but Hook evidently understood , as he hastily moved Sam to the waste area. Sam purged, and Hook made an exasperated sound.

"No wonder Fixer didn't think much of these chemicals," it said. "All of them seem to make you sick. Why is that?"

"The presence doesn't like them," Sam answered. He yawned and moved away from the waste area, slumping on the floor. Hook left him there and questioned him about the presence. Sam talked at length, and all the Cybertronians listened in fascination to Sam talk about how the presence killed Megatron because it overpowered a bot's spark, about how most organics went insane when they tried to take the presence, and he almost had, and how the download was storing Sam's memories along with the ones from the Cube. How he could channel the power for healing, how the presence had given him the cure for the antihuman virus and helped him download it to bots and how rescuing the sparklings hurt.

"So that's why the Master's plan failed," Hook commented thoughtfully. Hook asked how the sparklings were made and Sam told them in full detail. Hook walked away from the pen for a short time, coming into Wheeljack's view, and Wheeljack was surprised to find that Hook looked as horrified as he felt. The sound of water told Wheeljack that Sam was taking the opportunity to void, something he did in as much privacy as he could manage.

When Hook went back, Sam had tried to get to the bed, fallen on the way, and curled up to go to sleep on the floor. When Hook woke him, he whined that he did not feel good. Hook asked him what happened to Fixer.

"Optimus tore him up," Sam said, and yawned again. "Like Megatron tore up Jazz but in more pieces. Jolt recorded it for Sideswipe and the trine. Sunstreaker wanted to see it when he came. They all hated Fixer. Besides, he tried to blow Optimus up." After that, Hook put Sam in the bed and did something that made Sam complain about his throat hurting. Hook told him to shut up, he had to refuel and he would not purge this. Then he left, and Sam went to sleep.

"What did Hook do to Sam?" Perceptor asked. "All they had to do to get him to talk before and then he babbles like Bluestreak on a bad day!"

"Hook said something about a chemical," Wheeljack said. "Did you see Hook after Sam talked about the sparklings? The look on his face! "

Somewhere in this discussion Sam woke up. "Optimus said it happened before, and they let the sparks go," he said distantly. "They took Fixer's weapons and his ability to take an alt mode, and exiled him." He sighed. "On Earth they call someone like that a psychopath. You isolate them from society, or you kill them. It's the only way to stop them. "

"I have to agree," Perceptor said. "Sam, what did Hook do to you?"

"That was a drug," Sam said, still sounding detached. "And Hook's an idiot. The drug's called Final Mercy. That's because it usually kills the victim, but it's an easy death. Of course, the victim will answer any question they're asked, but the questioners have to know what to ask." He yawned. "Some of the twisted governments on Earth use it on their political prisoners. I wonder where Hook got them."

The bots were stunned. "You mean you're going to die?" Wheeljack yelped.

"I think I would have already," Sam reassured them, in the same distant tone. "But I think it's done some damage. If he uses it again, the second time will kill me even with the All-Spark trying to heal me. Wonder if Hook knows that."

Sometime during the conversation, the door opened so quietly that neither of them noticed. Several small bots, smaller than Bumblebee, came in, and swarmed onto the lab tables. Wheeljack heard amech voice hiss in his ear, "Keep talking. Cover the noise." Not able to think of anything else, Wheeljack started cursing, and telling off Soundwave, Megatron, and any other 'con he could think of. That was common enough behavior with the Decepticons they threw in the brig at the base. The bot, whoever he was, was loosening the bonds.

When he ran out of ideas, Perceptor started carrying on about how their situation was hopeless. If they weren't being released at the same time as Percy was whining, Wheeljack thought, I'd yell at Percy for being disloyal. So he did, just as he turned and noted that another small bot was wrapping Sam securely in his bed covering. The mech put something over Sam's face that was attached to a tank of some kind. He opened a clear ball and placed Sam in it, strapping him down securely. Wheeljack reached over and got the small 'laptops' Sam used to store information in, knowing that Sam had the design in one of them, and shoved them into his chest armor. That was as safe as he could make them. Perceptor motioned to the luggage and supplies, but the bot shook his head.

Then all of them moved, with one of the small mechs ahead of them. Wheeljack saw no symbol on them. These must be the neutrals Sam spoke of. But how in the Pits had they known where to find them? Wheeljack decided not to concern himself with a gift from Primus. Anything was better than being helpless. When he was released, the mech released weapons as well. Wheeljack would fight to the death if needed to keep from being captured again.

The answer appeared around the nearest corner. Searcher was waiting, and led them out as fast as possible. The halls and rooms they went through were deserted. Finally they came to a small ship, got in, and drifted off. When they were free of the base, the thrusters fired.

They were free.

"Get us to the human base as soon as possible," Searcher said, with panic barely held back in its voice. "Sam is having trouble breathing even with the oxygen."

Sam barely remembered getting to the colony. He remembered the escape, with Swoop snatching him up and wrapping him in the bedspread, then putting the oxygen on. Sam had to admit that under those circumstances, he had no problem going into the ball. When he saw Searcher, he knew why he had disappeared. Still feeling the effects of the drug, he watched as they made it to the spacecraft. Swoop gave him over to Searcher, who wrapped his hands around the ball, trying to hold the warmth in.

Sam was fine until the ship really began to move, and then he was fighting to get every breath in. He heard Searcher tell the others the problem. He heard Wheeljack and Perceptor telling Searcher about the drug. Sam just concentrated on moving his breath in and out. The oxygen helped. After an eternity, Swoop came and took Sam from Searcher. They went into space, very briefly, and then were in a human sized shuttle bay. Swoop took Sam out of the ball and immediately handed him into a door.

What looked like a small army of medical personnel was waiting, along with Ronnie. They took Sam, putting him into a stretcher and moving him at speed somewhere. When they stopped, Ronnie came up to the stretcher, and Sam gripped his son's hand and refused to let go. Wisely, the medics just moved around Ronnie, getting Sam to a room with bunches of electronic medical equipment in it. They hooked up an IV and replaced the oxygen mask with something that helped his breathing better, and put something over his chest that steadied his heartbeat.

That was when Sam spoke for the first time. "No drugs," he said, and told them what he was given.

"We have an antidote," they said promptly, and a few minutes later squirted something into his IV. "It won't repair the damage already done, but it'll neutralize what's left, and we'll gauge the damage from there. "

Then they left Sam alone with Ronnie. "Ronnie," Sam said urgently as soon as they were alone. "We need to know where the Decepticons got that drug. They may be working with the prison colony."

"I'll pass that on, " his son promised, and took out some kind of communication device. He spoke to Swoop and then to the Autobot base, letting them know that Sam was stable and passing on the warning. "You guys go ahead and report," he said. "I'll be in touch as soon as I know more."

He signed off and sighed. "Hi, Dad," he said, smiling for the first time. "Long time no see." Sam smiled back, and for the first time felt safe.

Ronnie watched as his father slept. The last few days had been frantically busy, and threw him into a world he had never seen. Space was different. He had to admit he had less trouble with the prosthesis, though. There was contact directly from Optimus about Sam's warning, and a promise that the matter would be looked into.

When Optimus got work from Grimlock that Soundwave was dead, they were able to begin the real rescue. The next surprise was word from Swoop that they had a possible way into the Decepticon base. Trust Dad, Ronnie thought, to do a Decepticon a favor, thinking absolutely nothing would come from it, and find an ally. Freed from the virus and armed with the information on the neutrals, Searcher contacted Swoop and made its offer. Swoop accepted warily. Searcher had been as good as its word, and would get a chance to establish itself on Earth as a neutral.

Swoop must have seen the offer as a gift from Primus. The former high priest and followers had to rescue Sam, but they did not want to die any more than most beings did, and this way they could obey the programming, and get something out of it. As Slag said, they were desperate for energon. The chance of getting a source might have motivated them to help even without the reprogramming forcing them into it.

Looking as his father surrounded by hooks and wires, Ronnie hoped that Megatron would tear Hook to pieces. He was glad, fiercely glad, that they had their revenge on the scum that put his father on that shuttle. He did not leave until he could see Sam was in the deep healing sleep he had seen before. The medical people who came in were amazed at how Sam was recovering; despite their professional cover when his father appeared, Ron could see that they did not expect the improvement they were seeing. After making sure that there was no more antidote needed, Ron emphasized that his father did not need more drugs that he would recover better without. "Whatever you say," one of the nurses said. "The recovery's amazing!"

"Even with the heart thing…."

"According to the information we have, we thought he'd need a kidney machine and artificial respiration! Hell, he's not using the pacemaker much! It's amazing!"

Ron found their reaction encouraging, and went to get something to eat feeling better. In the night they were able to take off the heart assist device, and then moved the breathing assistance to plain oxygen. They found Ronnie a cot so he could stay nearby.

The next day Sam woke up, but he was quiet. He did talk to Ronnie about his time as an involuntary guest of the Decepticons. He talked in bursts, before having to catch his breath. The medical staff encouraged him to rest, but slowly let him start drinking, and moved him to light food. They ran tests. They let Sam have his laptops when Ronnie got them. Sam discovered he could contact Wheeljack and Perceptor, and sent them the design with the warning that it needed work. Ronnie looked over his father's shoulder as they discussed revisions.

"I gave the 'cons the same design," he told Ronnie. "I didn't really have a choice. He was going to kill one of them and I gave."

"It's all right, Dad," Ronnie said, even as he winced inwardly. "Oh, I never told you. Grimlock and the Dinobots killed Soundwave. Sludge managed to trap it into intercepting a transmission and they finally found it. "Sam started typing. After a moment, he snickered and showed Ronnie a screen with fireworks and swirling colors.

"I just told Wheeljack and Perceptor about Soundwave, and that's their reaction," he said. Then he coughed, and breathed slowly for a time. A nurse hurried in and made him put up the laptop. Ronnie excused himself to contact the bots.

"Oh, and we found out where the drug came from," Ronnie added. "You know the Chinese colony?" Sam nodded. "One of their pharmacists was found in vacuum. Optimus is looking into the possible Decepticon contact, but I think that confirms it. " Sam only sighed. "Let the others deal with it, Dad. You get better."

Back on Earth, Poppy listened to the transmission Ronnie made and gave a small shriek when she heard what her father was given. Jeremy looked stricken, and Sheena looked grim. To the surprise of Bumblebee, who played it for them, they ran into Sam's house, and he saw the light go on in the room with Sam's monster computer. An hour later they all came out, clearly upset. Poppy had tear tracks on her face. Bumblebee called Optimus as the yellow bot stalled them. When the leader appeared, both the bots demanded an explanation.

"No one's ever survived?" Bumblebee repeated, after Poppy blurted out the reason she was crying.

"That doesn't mean Sam won't," Sheena said, as Poppy wiped her face again. "But there's no telling how much damage it did to him. And I will tell you this right now. Anything they wanted to know, they got from him. He would have answered any question they asked. He would have given them anything they wanted. That's what it was designed to do. So if he knew any secrets they wanted, they have them. Period."

"He would have talked to them anyway, sooner or later," Optimus told her. "We were prepared for that. What this means for the project he was working on- he was obsessed again. Usually that means it was vitally important."

"All we can do is wait to hear from Ronnie again," Jeremy said.

Two days later the family was gathered around Sam's computer, moved to the courtyard so the bots could listen in. Sam appeared on the video with Ronnie behind him. He looked tired and worn. He managed to smile, and they all greeted him. "Well, as you can see, I've managed to break a record," he said lightly. "I've survived the Final Mercy." Then his smile disappeared. "But." He paused, and Ronnie put hands on his father's shoulders. Sam covered one with his own, and took a deep breath. "The bad news is, the drug did some damage." He went over the damage."The presence can't heal it, at least not quickly and maybe not at all, because it's more wear and tear, not acute damage. All of which I can survive; they tell me that for my age I'm still in remarkable shape. "He looked up at Ronnie and then back at the screen.

"What I won't survive is reentry to the Earth's atmosphere. I can't come home."


	8. Chapter 8

Final Project Chapter Eight

I do not own Transformers or I would be rich.

Two weeks later Sam watched with a twinge of jealousy as the shuttle carrying Ronnie left the station. The arrangements, normally impossible, were difficult but finally completed. Sam had reason to be grateful that one, both the United Nations and the US government were willing to do almost anything to get Sam settled and the treaty reactivated, even to the extent of clearing out a lot of paperwork; two, he was rich; and three, that the device he was working on was so desperately needed.

Optimus and Red Alert were not any happier with the idea of the Decepticons connecting with human criminals than Sam was. The base commander was astonished when he was contacted by United Nations security forces for arrangements to work with Sam and Ronnie. The formal request to investigate was necessary to satisfy treaty requirements; it also meant that the Autobots could request assistance if they needed it.

A scout was sent to watch the human prison colony and the Decepticon base. They recorded a meeting between Decepticons and some of the prison administrators within three days. As the United Nations leadership opposed the idea of the prison colony from the beginning, they used the information to pressure the Chinese into disbanding the colony and requested that the Autobots act as possible to deal with their own kind.

Simple as they were, the negotiations, and the arrangements kept Sam sane. The medical staff at the base infirmary was used to working with young, healthy people and sympathetic to the old man who was poisoned and facing exile in space. They also wanted to find out why Sam was in such good condition for a man his age-meaning they wanted to do some extensive testing.

By the third day, Sam demanded that all the medical equipment come off. The nurse went over all the reasons that he could not have his IV out and why the heart monitors needed to stay. He spoke slowly and carefully. Sam heard him out. "I am not six years old, senile, drugged out of my mind or in serious pain," Sam informed him. "I will not accept any drugs, and there are portable heart monitors. I want them off. "

Ronnie was astonished. When Sheena, Poppy, and the last two consultants talked to Sam like that, Ronnie was in the bot infirmary with Ratchet and Ironhide and he heard the explosion from there. The one time Sheena refused to take out an IV, Sam personally took it out, spraying blood all over the walls and floor, and left. The nursing staff called Poppy in a panic, and she called Ratchet. Ratchet found Sam downloading. When Sam emerged, Ratchet threatened to tie him to one of the berths in the bot infirmary if he ever pulled a stunt like that again.

Unimpressed, Sam promised the bot medic that he would cut the medical budget to nothing if he dared. The argument escalated to monumental proportions and had both bots and NEST personnel gathered around the infirmary taking bets on which would blow a gasket or have a stroke before Optimus came in and unceremoniously hauled Ratchet out of the infirmary to the firing range, while Poppy and Minnie pulled Sam out and into Bumblebee for a trip to the meadow and some compromises with Sheena.

The staff did convince Sam that one more set of tests had to be done to see how much damage remained. They promised that once they did the tests, they would remove everything as long as he had no trouble. The doctor making the promise evidently expected Sam to have those problems, and was impressed when the tests were completed without any.

Afterwards, the doctor was kind when giving the test results, emphasizing again and again that Sam was lucky to be alive and functioning decently. But he was firm. The reason he had trouble breathing coming over was that his heart reacted to the stress of acceleration. At normal Earth gravity, he would probably need constant oxygen and need to limit his activity. Here at the station, where the gravity was light, he was functioning normally, but the chances of his surviving the return to Earth were low.

Sam found a port that had a view of space and spent a long time looking out. Ronnie was busy talking to the commander about the security problems that brought Sam to space, and left him to work it out. By the time the call home went through, Sam was able to be calm and strong for his Earth family. He was also dressed in normal clothes, shaved, and feeling human.

In the end, everything did get worked out. When he was moved from place to place in space, he took extra oxygen and the shuttle, Cosmos, tried not to accelerate very hard.

He was getting full medical coverage and a room when needed from the station, which in return got several of the solar batteries adapted for space. The long hours in the pen and the discussions with Wheeljack and Perceptor helped him figure out the calibration problem. His family arranged for all needed supplies to be provided through the space shuttle and the shuttle space was provided without cost. Optimus was not willing to budge an inch on that point. Sam had to pay for his own supplies, but that meant that he could get the best of what was available. He was grateful that his family loved him. If he had the bitter kind of family life he encountered far too often, they could so easily leave him to the mercy of the bots.

Of course, most of the bots were falling all over themselves to get Sam whatever he needed. The problem was, they had no real idea what a human needed, and getting that little matter straight was time-consuming and frustrating. Often the results either had both he and Ronnie falling apart laughing, or scratching their heads wondering just why the hell they had not thought of that.

There were a pile of Autobots who had never seen humans at all, choosing or being ordered to stay in space for one reason or another. A few bots had not liked Earth or humans for whatever reason, and came back to space; these avoided Sam and the lab, and if they encountered him, acted as if he did not exist.

The Autobots were using a large asteroid that was essentially hollowed out as a base. There was a little atmosphere, and a little gravity, but not much, and it was clear from the start that the Autobots would have to provide a place for Sam.

The first thing Optimus did when the Prime heard Sam say he was stranded was curse, at length and in several languages varying from Cybertronian to Arabic to English and back. Having expressed himself, Optimus contacted the bot's space base and asked them to work with Sam, but specified that they needed Sam's input.

Sam had to deal with the normal and expected Cybertronian wish to put the Cube- or, in this case, the host for the Cube- in the most protected space available. In this case, it was the centermost area of the asteroid. Red Alert, the commander of the space base, brought the two humans into the space and asked what Sam would need. It was a large space for a human, Ronnie estimated; about the size of Sam's add-on at the base. It was clear what Red Alert's priorities were when the bot explained how defensible the room was and how Sam would be safe there.

Ronnie thought he was going to hear an explosion at any moment. Instead, Sam heard the bot out. Ronnie and his father were in a version of the hamster balls the Decepticons used on Sam. Wheeljack modified the design so that they were flexible and more easily maneuvered.

Sam looked around. "How am I supposed to work with Wheeljack and Perceptor in here?" he asked. "We need to start working on the energon device as soon as possible, and they won't fit. I'm going to need their input."

"But-"Red Alert had not considered that aspect of Sam's visit. "I thought Wheeljack and Perceptor were doing that." Sam explained that the design was preliminary and needed extensive revision, and he had to work with them on that aspect of the process.

"Not to mention that I can't see how in God and Primus' name I'm supposed to be able to get the contacts I'll need in here. I'm absolutely certain that signals won't go through rock. I need access."

"But you have to be in a safe area if the Decepticons attack and this is the safest part of the base. We could all be off-lined and you could be safe here until the others came."

'If all of you were blasted to bits by the Decepticons, I'd be stuck down here dying slowly, unable to get the word out, and helpless. How is that a good thing?"

That stopped Red Alert's sputtering. "That's a point," he said thoughtfully.

Telling Ironhide and Prowl about that conversation later, Ironhide growled and Prowl frowned. "What?" Ronnie asked.

"We just lost the pool," Ironhide said. "I said it would take two days to convince Red not to lock Sam in the equivalent of a closet for safety reasons, and Prowl," the weapons specialist gesture, "said it would be three days. Sideswipe said it would take a direct order from Optimus, and Sunstreaker said it would take the All-Spark coming through. " Ronnie was grinning, but he could see where they were coming from.

"Who won?" Ronnie asked.

"Minnie," Prowl said unhappily. "She said Sam would talk Red out of it in less that two hours, and everyone laughed at her."

In the end, Sam wound up in Wheeljack and Perceptor's lab. It was on the more defendable side of the asteroid. They set up a little apartment much like the add-on, giving him privacy. They brought up an energon generator that could heat the entire lab and run the air system. Sam had several appliances that worked with energon batteries. Food and air were brought over from the moon colony. Some of the machinery gave off water, and the bots simply sent the runoff to a storage tank in his add-on. There was more than enough for Sam to use for anything he needed, including hot baths.

To his astonishment, some of the material came from the neutral's base, from the area the neutrals had begun making for him in case the removal did not work. Ronnie was as shocked as Sam to discover that if the removal had not worked, Swoop intended to kidnap Sam.

"Swoop acted like you were a-a-Cube, like you had no choice at all!" he exclaimed angrily.

"Learned better, didn't it?" Sam said. "He got a taste of his own medicine from the presence. Just like Megatron lost almost all its troops the last time it treated me like a pet on Earth." Ronnie considered that and felt better.

Grimlock and the other Dinobots brought the material over while Sam's quarters were being built. Wheeljack, Sam and Perceptor got the full story of Soundwave's defeat from them. Sam was shocked to find out that Sludge joined in the fight, until he heard how. Sludge appeared first to cut off the satellite's broadcast, and held off Soundwave's mental attack until the others mounted the physical attack against both Soundwave and the creations with it. It took all four of the remaining Dinobots to rip the telepathic 'con from the satellite and it fought to the death, refusing to surrender or give any quarter.

"You kept it out of your processor?" Wheeljack yelped. "How?" Grimlock snorted.

"Sludge has the strongest will of all of us," he said bluntly. "To refuse to fight except to defend in these evil days takes strength that few have and he has never broken that vow." Privately Sam told Sludge what he saw when Soundwave used his power on Wheeljack and Perceptor

When Sam saw the damage on the Dinobots, he insisted on repairing them. Red Alert and Ronnie objected, Ronnie because he thought his father needed more time to regain his own health and Red Alert because Ratchet told the base leader to keep Sam from healing anyone not dying. Sam listened and nodded. Then he leaned against each one and talked. No one commented when they started moving more easily and Sam ended up asleep on Sludge's warm back. Sludge maneuvered Wheeljack and Perceptor into a quiet conversation while Sam slept, and both of them seemed better afterward.

"Sludge might be a prude nun a lot of the time," Ronnie admitted later, "but when the chips are down, he sure comes through. Wish Grim and the other Dinobots could get their hands on Hook."

"So do they." Grimlock was graphic about what he intended to do to the last Constructicon should the tyrannosaurus get close enough. "I told him if he managed to get to Hook, I wanted a recording. "

But before Ronnie left, Sam assured him that everything would work out, and managed to sound like he meant it.

Once they got the energon maker's design from Sam's laptop to Wheeljack's computer, the engineer and the scientist went over it with Sam, and began working on adjustments. It was clear that Wheeljack and Perceptor were worlds ahead of him in terms of their grasp of the science, but that was part of the problem.

They wanted more complex changes that simply would not work with the materials and level of technology they had to deal with. Sam had to back them up again and again, bringing them back to the basics. Despite the communication problems, they did produce two possible working designs in months. Sam was relieved; he was sure it would take a year when they started.

Sometimes bots came by the lab to see him. Sam enjoyed seeing new faces. He and the science bots with kept a record of both the most frequently asked questions and the oddest. By far the most common was how Sam met the Autobots and his early adventures. Sam usually agreed to tell the story if the bot would walk with him, giving him a chance to get out and saving his lab mates the trouble of hearing the same story over and over.

The most common hostile comment was "Why did the All-Spark choose a human?" That came from a an angry, depressed bot that had just come off a patrol where he saw several Decepticons. Forced to hide for several hours until they went somewhere else, he spat the question at Sam when he was walking with Kup. Kup started to intervene, but Sam held up his hand.

"No bot can hold the presence and live," Sam told the hot head quietly. "Megatron got a sharp lesson in that when I pushed the Cube into his spark. My brain was the closest processor capable of holding it, so," he shrugged. Cliffjumper snorted and walked off. "Cheerful fellow," Sam commented to Kup.

"That's Cliffjumper," Kup said. "Got the name for a reason."

The bots were confined to the base, which made them crowded and in most cases, irritated. Wheeljack and Perceptor spent most of the day arguing over which design to follow up on. Hound, one of the scouts watching the prison colony, came by and Sam could see he was bursting with curiosity about something. Needing to get out of the lab, Sam walked with him to the window. Sam saw a few other bots there, but it was a large room, and he thought nothing of it. He adjusted the oxygen mask he was wearing over the coveralls that kept him warm outside the lab.

"Do humans have sparks?" Hound asked. Sam looked at him, startled. "I overheard some of the NEST soldiers talking and they said one of the humans at the colony acted like he had no soul, and when I asked what that meant, they said a soul was like a spark. I thought humans didn't have sparks."

Sam sighed. There had been some philosophical talks with Slag once when both of them were watching the sparklings play in the obstacle course, but what he flashed back to was the trial. "We don't have sparks you can see, the way you guys do," he said. "We have a part of us that's like the spark, in that it doesn't die when the body does, but goes on. It's called a soul. "

"If you can't see it, how do you know it's there?" Hound asked.

Sam considered. "Well, you've heard the stories, about how both Optimus and I died in the fight in Egypt, right?" Hound nodded. "I spoke to the Dynasty of Primes and went back. The part that spoke to them, that went back, was my soul."

"Oh." Hound sounded a little doubtful.

"Well, you know Swoop was a high priest once, when he was on Cybertron." Hound nodded encouragingly. "Heand the other Dinobots came to Earth to investigate me, investigate the All-spark being in an organic. It seems that in ages past, someone's taken the All-Spark for the power, and there was a ritual to get it back into a 'proper container.' Anyway, once we got the anti-human virus matter settled-you guys did get that download, right?"

To his surprise, there was a chorus of agreements, and he discovered that they had an audience. "Good. Anyway-"

"Where did that program come from?" Cosmos asked. The shuttle bot blinked at the glares. "What? I want to know!"

"The presence gave it to me." Under the circle of glares, Cosmos subsided and Sam went on, "I was tired, and when Grimlock, Sludge, and Snarl said they needed more room to move, I went to help them get settled at the ranch and take some rest time. I spent a lot of time talking to them. They passed the information on to Swoop, not knowing that he still intended to complete the ritual. When they did find out, they tried to talk him out of it, but he would not budge and he temporarily off-lined them to get them out of the way."

"How did Swoop do that?" Cliffjumper asked, sounding irritated. From the murmurs, the rest thought that was a good question. Considering the tyrannosaurus, the stegosaurus, and the brontosaurus were all much larger than Swoop, the pterodactyl, it was a valid question.

"Swoop was a high priest of the Temple of the All-Spark, and a judge. He had the ability to temporarily off-line pretty much anything but a Prime." There was a murmur, but it died. "Anyway, Swoop paralyzed me with nanites and put me on trial with the help of a bunch of its followers. If I understand what happened correctly, he judged that I was too young to understand what I was doing when I destroyed the Cube, but my actions trapped the All-Spark in a meld that was detrimental to both me and the All-Spark, and the situation had to be corrected. "Sam snorted. "So he started the ritual, and pulled out the All-Spark, which would have killed me, if Ratchet hadn't built a device that held a partial download. We were seeing if it worked; well, it worked, but not the way we expected. It kept me alive while the All-Spark told Swoop that-"

"Told him?" That came from Kup.

"Oh, yes, told him. Let me tell you, there was not a bot there from Megatron to the last acolyte from the temple who expected that. It manifested totally, and communicated with Swoop, but everyone heard it."

At that several voices spoke up. Megatron was there? What did it tell Swoop? Why didn't it kill Megatron? What did the All-Spark look like?

"Hold it!" Kup's voice bellowed. When they quieted in surprise, he said, "Let him tell the story." After some grumbling they quieted again.

"It looked like a huge, glowing spark and it felt- like power. It just radiated power. Yes, Megatron showed up. Soundwave intercepted Swoop's call to the rest of the temple to bring the instruments and the containers for the ritual. Starscream was there, too, and I'll get to that in a moment. The presence told Swoop that it was its choice to stay with me, that if it wanted to be in a container, it would have jumped to the prototype when I did the first download. So Swoop asked it if I ever had a chance to choose, and it pulled me out of my body. "

"What was it like?" Hound asked.

"Absolutely weird. I was aware of everything, and could not feel anything. But without my body, I wasn't afraid. "

"What did you choose?" Cosmos asked, and this time got hoots.

"He's here, slagger!"

"I didn't choose, really." Sam corrected. "I asked it if there was a reason for it to stay with me, except to keep me alive. It told me there was potential need for me to act for it again, and I told it to choose. That put me back in my body, which I regretted, being numb. It destroyed the instruments and the container. That's how I know I have a soul."

For a time there was silence, as everyone absorbed that idea. "What about Megatron and Starscream?" Cliffjumper asked, but this time it sounded subdued. Sam noticed that somewhere along the line, Wheeljack and Perceptor came in.

"The presence told Swoop,'Look above you, you who claimed to be my priest and never believed. That is the last one who fooled himself that his wish for power was the destiny of Cybertron. Our world stands damaged for that pride, and the power the Lord High Protector once held is gone forever.**' **"Then Megatron sent Starscream after the temple followers and came after me. Thank God and Primus that the twins had already showed up and on-lined the Dinobots."

"But why didn't it kill Megatron?" Cliffjumper whined.

"I do not choose sides, idiot! I do not take the choices of others from them. I only seek to ensure the survival of the most once those choices are made." Sam's eyes were odd and his voice echoed eerily. There was dead silence in the room. Then Red Alert came in, looking around.

"Ah, Sam! I have Optimus on the line, if you'd come? Blaster's holding. " Sam came to life again and headed over to the base leader. When Sam exited the room, there was quiet.

Hound said, "Well, that was interesting." No one seemed to have noticed someone was watching them.

Kup said softly," He said Cybertron was damaged. Not dead, damaged. "There was hope in his voice.

"But how do we know we're on the right side if it doesn't take sides?" Hound said, worried.

Wheeljack spoke up then. "The presence can't take sides, but Sam can, and it chooses to stay with Sam." Kup looked at the engineer, and in the room, the morale went up quite a bit.

After that, there was no longer any objection to Sam's presence.

Sam went over the progress with the project with Optimus while Red Alert listened. Sam was sure that Red had already made its report, including how it thought Sam was doing. "Wheeljack and Perceptor are having some major arguments over which design to use," Sam concluded, "but I think we should go after both and see which works better. "

Optimus nodded. Sam proposed running some possible products past Annabelle and the technology panel, including the coveralls he was wearing. The Prime had questions on some matters Minnie did not have a precedent for. Sam listened, and told Optimus what he had done, but cautioned, "I didn't like that solution, and used it when we had no other choice. See if Minnie or her team can come up with something else before using that option. "Red Alert, bored, left the office to tend to some other business, and Sam saw the door shut with relief.

"What is it, Sam?" Optimus asked, knowing Sam needed to talk.

"The presence is coming through a lot more often. It did just now, in a completely harmless way, but still. We're getting a lot closer to a complete meld." He leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. "It has to support me a lot more now, so it's a lot closer to the surface. To the point that instead of having a problem getting an idea to me, we're constantly in touch. It has to keep the power back, and that makes it a little grumpy." He snickered at that, and Optimus was amused as well.

"Grumpy is not a word I would normally use with the All-Spark, but I'll take your word for it. What can we do?"

"We think there may be a way to slow it down, and update the prototype. Wheeljack kept some of the material, thinking it might use it, but never did. I'd like to see if Ratchet'll make another device, and replace the one I have. We can send the old one down to put with the prototype, and the new one can start absorbing some of the power overload. That would slow the meld. "

"I see no reason Ratchet can't make another device. Send the material down with the next ore shipment." The mines in the asteroids, worked by drones, were the main reason for the base's location. " As for delivery of the new and old device, we'll use a private messenger. I already have a volunteer."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

I do not own Transformers. Sigh.

Sam went to the human space colony two days a month. He adjusted the batteries, which worked well; the base commander told him happily that the savings more than paid for his medical treatment and the room they held for him. He made notes that he would discuss with Wheeljack and Perceptor back at the Autobot base and with Bert to update designs. He would be looked over by the doctors, who knew to both speak to Sam and to send a report to the Autobot base, though they did not know who they were sending it to. Red Alert would forward the report to Optimus.

To the medics at the space station, Sam was a living miracle. He was over eighty and survived a nasty poison, and was working. To Optimus and Sam's family, their reports were disappointing. The human and the bot family alike were used to the presence bringing Sam back to his normal healthy self. They missed him, and they wanted him to come home.

Sam buried himself in work, behavior his family recognized. He desperately missed his family, his home, his friends, and his former health. He had to learn to compensate for the much lighter gravity, and the longer he stayed in space, the less likely he would ever recover enough to endure the trip home.

Part of the bargain of the neutrals with the Autobots over Sam's rescue and setup was a request that Sam visit the neutral base or be visited by one of the neutrals regularly. As a result, Swoop came to the Autobot base with some frequency. Wheeljack and Perceptor were out often enough that Sam could visit in the lab, but frequently Sam saw Swoop in the hallway that had a large space window. He would use the space ball and walk with the former high priest or stay by the window.

He could talk to Swoop about the presence; there were other topics of conversation that had Swoop making very quiet preparations for a long term goal. Once he remarked to the former high priest,"I find it ironic that the one person I can speak to freely about the presence tried to take it from me."

"I did have reasons for that," Swoop said mildly. They both looked out at the stars. "The presence exposed me to myself, in a way. Had I succeeded, I would have made matters worse, something I still do not like to admit. I find it ironic that I serve the presence more now, than I did when I was one of the high priests. It gave me hope and a stinging reprimand at the same time when it pointed out Megatron to me and then exiled me to space to wait to serve it again.."

"Don't expect me to be sympathetic," Sam said dryly, and sighed. "Strangely enough your meddling made the meld stronger," he added forlornly. "I'm tired, and this project is on a start, a good start, but we have years of work ahead of us yet. We'll have to build and test and build and test, while the Decepticons are either building as well or waiting for us to finish, and planning to snatch the results and us as soon as they know the device is done."

"Considering what Hook did to you, I hope you have plans."

"You may assume so, priest, but you do not need to know what they are." Sam's voice echoed just a little. Swoop took a swift step back. "See what I mean?" This time it was only Sam. "I just hope my current plans work out. I wonder who the courier is. "

Sam did not know that his visits to the window were watched by other eyes.

Sam arrived at the space base in Cosmos a day or two later. By this time his room at the base was furnished with everything he needed, so all he had to do was say, "See you in a few days, Cosmos. "

"Sure, Sam," the shuttle said, and headed back out. Sam walked over to his room, and then to the lobby where the normal shuttle arrivals came in. The shuttle was on time for something of a change, and he started looking for the volunteer Optimus sent.

He knew her as soon as she appeared. He had to wonder just how many at the base knew about this little stunt, even as he hurried, then almost ran to her. "Poppy!"

"Daddy!" she shouted, and they came together in a hug, laughing, watched in amused approval by the base staff. "God, it's good to see you!" Behind her, Bethany dropped Poppy's luggage and grinned. Sam greeted her.

"Glad to see you're back safe, Sam," she said. "I'll look you up later," and she headed off. Sam picked up one suitcase while Poppy took the other, and they headed off to meet the base commander who was waiting by the door and smiling.

Poppy gave her father the quick look-over as they walked, while talking about the arrangements. He had aged just a little, moving a little more slowly, and like the last time he was taken, had lost weight, but not dangerously. To anyone meeting him for the first time, he looked to be in his sixties instead of the wrong side of eighty. He did seem used to the much lighter gravity, while she was awkward with it. At the same time, there was something different about him, and she tried to pin it down as the base commander showed her to her room and then they went to his office.

He had coffee and fruit there-Poppy learned quickly that the greatest treat in the space base was fresh anything- and they served themselves before he got down to business. "I believe you were to bring something for me and separately for your father," he said. Poppy promptly handed over a sealed folder. He asked some questions, mostly related to football and politics, and she answered all of them promptly. That kind of news was hard to get at the base. "I was told I would be popular if I brought these as well," she said, and produced a pile of DVDs and CDs. The commander grinned.

Soon after they were headed for the infirmary. "Ratchet said for me to tell you he hoped you were behaving better than you used to for Sheena," she said, "or they might not give you any anesthetic when they take the old one out." Sam laughed.

"You'll find out," he said. She snorted, and swept into the infirmary. The medical staff was expecting Sam, but they were not expecting Poppy. One of the nurses took Sam aside to get him ready for his checkup, and Poppy turned to find several of the medical staff looking at her curiously. Never shy, she introduced herself and produced proof that she had the right to get her father's medical information.

That opened the floodgates.

By the time Sam got back from his examination, he found her deep in conversation with the head nurse, comparing the problems of a normal hospital and the infirmary. "And here comes the man who knows more polite ways of saying 'no' than anyone else I ever met," the head nurse added.

"That right?" she said, amused. "Then you're lucky, after some of the stunts he's pulled on his doctor on Earth. "

"Hey, the company paid for Sheena's medical school," he said mockingly. "Putting up with me was the interest on the debt. " He handed the sheet to the nurse. "I've been good, today. I even let them take blood without complaining too much. We have an appointment for the surgeon at nine tomorrow."

"You mean you kept the cursing to a language they couldn't understand?" she asked.

"Hey, that can be a challenge up here," he said, and shot an amused glance at the head nurse, who burst into laughter. "I had to go to Russian once."

"The night nurse is from Yemen," the nurse admitted. "It took a week before we found out they were having cursing contests."

"Don't tell Poppy that," Sam said in mock-alarm. "She'll want to join in, and she'll win." Poppy grinned, knowing he was right; she could curse better than he, a relic of her army days. They left the infirmary with the nurse still chuckling. Sam took her on a tour of the base while they talked of home and how the family was doing. She brought several hard drives that different family members had put together. Lynette was in college now, working on a degree in communications. Sam laughed when he found out Sludge was her mentor and she had already learned more from the brontosaurus than she had in school.

After seeing the medical record, Poppy understood the changes in her father better, and she knew the news she would take back to Optimus was not news the Prime or the rest of the family wanted to hear. Daddy's attitude reminded her of her mother while she was battling cancer.

So she left the subject, and instead they caught up. Sam told her about Hound's question, and his answer. She sobered. "You know, there are a lot of people on Earth who ask that kind of question," she observed. "Especially the dying."

"It is comforting to know," he mused. "Why didn't Bob come with you?"

"He couldn't pass the physical," she admitted. "He wasn't happy. He swore that this time next year he's coming, that he'll be in good enough shape. "Sam nodded, doubting it. He liked Bob a lot. Like he and Mikaela, Bob and Poppy seemed to be lifetime partners, even though they seemed to have a role-reversal kind of life. Bob had steady hours and was the family anchor most of the time, while Poppy's hours were more erratic and her career claimed more time than his did. He was the calm in the storm, and she was the aggressive protector. But Bob seldom exercised, and loved his food. He looked more like Sam's peer than his son in law.

The surgeon listened to their request the next morning after breakfast. "Let me be sure I understand what you need here," she said. "You have this device underneath your shoulder blade. You want me to remove that one and put this one in, either in the same pocket, or on the other side. "They nodded. "How long has this one been in your body, Mr. Witwicky?"

"About a year," Sam admitted. "It's been working for me longer than that, but I had it implanted then. It's reached full capacity, and I need the new one, and to send the old one for analysis."

"So you've been experimenting with this device on yourself," she pressed.

"This kind, yes; I've been using another for over five years that wasn't portable," he told her coolly. "It records thoughts and memories, and will be stored in a special recording device." Special is certainly a word that fits the prototype, he reflected.

"All right," she finally consented. "It's a simple procedure, no different than a pacemaker pocket. But I have conditions, and until you agree to them, I won't do it. "She tapped a finger for each condition. "One, you'll stay here for two days, and every non-invasive test I want, I get. Note I did say, non-invasive, scans and such. Your daughter can watch or suit up with me and assist. You will stay in bed for that time, and accept any necessary meds. I will insist on an antibiotic, and if you are in pain, either a trank or a painkiller. And you will behave yourself with my staff."

"For two days," Sam qualified.

She nodded. He held out his hand, and she shook it. "We'll have that in writing, but I'll accept that for now. Let's find a time on the schedule."

As everyone expected, the short operation went smoothly. Poppy elected to watch, which meant she could stay with her father when he came out of the sedative. "Everything went fine," the surgeon said. "The anesthesiologist said he did not think your father was fully sedated, but as he was not moving and not complaining, we went forward. And I assure you, he would have complained." Poppy nodded and went to the holding room. Sam spent several hours there sleeping. When the staff expressed concern over how long her father was sleeping, she shook her head.

"When Dad sleeps he sleeps hard," she assured them. She was watching the monitors, and she knew there was nothing detectable wrong. When the man in the bed opened his eyes, she stroked his face gently and said," Okay?" He smiled sweetly, as the nurse came over and did the standard checks and looked at the wound. Shortly afterward Sam was moved to the regular infirmary. The nurse informed him cheerfully that he did have bathroom privileges, but they expected him to stay in bed for most of the night. Poppy watched, her amusement hidden behind a nurse's bland look, as Sam forced himself to be civil and agree to remaining quiet and leave the IV in. They brought him a light meal and left. "How's the pain, Dad?" she asked quietly. While Sam normally refused pain medications, she knew he did not take pain well.

"You know well that my host does not take pain well," the man in the bed told her, with an echo to the voice. Poppy's belly went cold. She looked at the amused man sitting up in bed. "I have kept control through the procedure for that reason. "

"Haven't you controlled most of his life?" she asked, and welcome anger rose in her. Anger kept the fear away, something she learned in combat so many years ago.

The being currently controlling Sam's body considered the question. "No," it answered judiciously. "No, for the most part, I could only suggest, not control. When your father died in Egypt, the Dynasty of Primes made changes in his mind that reduced my ability to drive him so strongly, before I revived him. I could influence, but not control. That worked out better, as Optimus Prime learned when to see that I was doing so and help. "The man in the bed shifted carefully. "It was not until we were together several decades that the meld became strong enough for me to be more than vaguely aware of daily matters in his life."

"But the Decepticons coming after him, the constant guarding, the way he had to work…"

"My dear one, most of the resentment of the Decepticons was due to the choices your father made, not to me. After all, Megatron and his allies want control of everything that exists, and they have never managed to achieve it in part due to his actions. That led to the constant guarding. When I was forced to prove to that power hungry fool Megatron that I was indeed where I was, I made my host more of a desirable possession, but otherwise he would have been dead and I would have been cast into the void."

"I see," she said numbly. Cast into the void? Maybe she could understand why it clung to her father.

"Do you," it said levelly. "Your father worked long and hard hours for a cause he strongly and sincerely believed in. When he asked, I gave him what I could to help, whether it was ideas, or the power to heal a friend, or the healing he needed. Where in that do you see a reason to blame me?" It shifted again. "And Megatron will never see him as anything but a possession, because it cannot bear to think that anything that is not Cybertronian might be stronger than it is. The only exception I have ever encountered was the Fallen, and I knew the Lord Protector for longer than humans have had written history." It shifted again. "Maybe I should give your father control back and let you listen to him complain," it grumbled.

That won a smile from her. "You know in that case we'd fill him with pain meds." It sighed and drank more of the soft drink.

"Pollution, those drugs. They prevent me from the healing," it sneered, putting down the drink. "It was not until you were almost mature that I began noticing more." It smiled mischievously at her. "I admit to being partially responsible for the births of your brothers. I was able to sense emotions that were strong by that time, not just the extreme ones, and those that led to their conception were quite pleasant."

Poppy stared at him, before beginning to giggle. The giggles became a full fledged belly laugh. "My- mother-"she managed to say between laughs, "would have tried to brain you for that-"and finally gave in to howls as she pictured her mother's outrage.

"I was not sure he would ever recover from her death," it said, becoming sober. "There was nothing I could do; I was not part of her, like I am of him. Not until the download, when I could communicate so much better, did he finally begin to recover. Then those Decepticons fools snatched him and treated us like the crown jewels, locking him away and gloating over us-"it hissed. "Megatron is not a Prime! It was the Lord High Protector, and at first he did his job well, until the Fallen corrupted him. Leaving us with that blasphemer! That any mortal being could consider taking my role!"

"Optimus tore Fixer to pieces and you made the sparklings yourself," she said with all the calm she could muster. The assurance worked, as the meld that held her father took a deep breath and settled. She handed him a candy bar she had kept aside as bribery for her father and the meld laughed.

"Bribery will get you everywhere," he mocked, but he unwrapped the candy bar and nibbled. "Humans live so intensely," he added. "My children have emotions, and when those emotions are strong, they are stronger than yours, but they do not feel as intensely as humans do. Perhaps it is your short lifetime." It rubbed over the IV and frowned over it. "This is annoying. Permission to use the waste facility, scolding to stay in bed. You'll excuse me a moment," it said with dignity, and she went to the door and looked away, fighting her amusement, as the meld went to the bathroom. When it returned, it grumbled, "Humans are so messy."

She gave up and giggled, and he growled before relaxing into an amused smile. She went to get something to eat and brought it back with her. "So what's it like most of the time for you?" she asked, and bit into a hamburger.

"I am not here," it said, and gazed into nothing. "I cannot describe it to you," it said finally. "There are no words. Your father has been there with me, when he visited the Primes and a few other times. He is one of the very few who can tolerate my touch; I was fortunate that it was he who was with the Prime that day."

"There are others?" Poppy asked.

"Did you ever wonder why your father made it easy for James to leave home?" She shook her head. "He was one. His daughter was another. I was not so melded to my host then; he would have survived my leaving him and going to a younger host, but when he discovered my intention, he prevented me. He said, correctly, that it was not a solution, and only put his child at risk. He did not know that the distance would not have mattered, had he died then."

"Risk?"

"His grandfather's father was judged insane when I tried to communicate with him. Sam came close; it was the need to revive Optimus that gave him a focus, until the Primes intervened. He feared the same madness for his child. "

"But James was never a fighter, never a leader like Dad," she objected, and sipped her tea.

"It is the ability to communicate that matters, a way of being able to look at oneself and others and know how to get ideas out. Fighters like yourself and your younger brother would never be able to accept me; you would go mad, and quickly. The ways of a diplomat are most suited to my needs. I believe one wise man said it was the ability to sooth a beast with words while picking up a rock. Sam is very good at it. The current success your brother enjoys it partly due to that ability. Minnie is good at it." The being went back to nibbling on the candy bar, eating it slowly.

Poppy chewed that over in her mind as she finished the hamburger and peeled her orange. "So how are you coming through so well now? Dad told Mom once that communicating with you was like a human and a cat communicating. And that he was the cat."

She was startled by its hearty laugh, after which it shifted in obvious discomfort. "As I said, a unique ability to communicate. That was very perceptive of him. And accurate." It sobered. "We have melded that closely. It was a matter of time, I believe, but it's not good for me to be so much in this reality. It cannot last. Here, with you, the beloved daughter of my host, I can function easily. In a group, or with my children, I am more prone to irritation. "

"You want to smack the crap out of them," she translated.

"Exactly," it admitted. "And I do not have that right. They have the right to make stupid choices. But I must stay close to the surface in order to keep your father functioning well. The poison did great damage to him, and his body's ability to sustain itself is aged. You remember his parents at his age. "Poppy did. "Even I will not be able to sustain him much longer. We must finish this project."

"And come home?" she asked, her voice quivering. The being reached out and touched her cheek gently.

"We will have a chance to say good-bye before we leave, your father to join your mother and I to where I must," it promised her. "But it will not be in a manner you expect."

The meld did sleep that night and Sam woke up. Poppy was relieved. The tests finally ended. The surgeon was astonished at how well Sam was healing, and when the test was over, she released him. Sam called Cosmos as soon as he was released and they headed for the Autobot base. Before they left, Poppy showed Sam his present from Ironhide.

"I'm keeping the original," she informed him. "I have it now." Sam nodded. Once they were on board, Sam introduced Poppy to Cosmos, and the questions began. They were so busy talking that they did not see the threat until too late; it appeared when they landed. Poppy and Sam got out in the hanger. Suddenly there were three bots in the hanger with them, one of them on top of Cosmos. Skywarp had a hand on Starscream, who was snatching at Poppy. Unlike Sam, Poppy was issued a space suit, and she had tucked her laser into the belt. She had it out and severed Starscream's arm, the one holding Skyarp, within a moment. Starscream screamed. Skywarp was panicking when suddenly he quieted. In his ball, Sam was leaning against Skywarp, and instead of screaming or panicking, Sam had a predatory smile on his face.

"Shut up, Starscream," he said, his voice echoing.

"How dare you speak to me like that, you maggot of a human!" Starscream howled, and Poppy shot him again, this time in the face. He yelped.

"I am not Samuel," he said. "Why are you here, Starscream? Lord Megatron left orders for this base to remain undisturbed until the device is complete." Thundercracker jumped off Cosmos to help and was promptly attacked by Wheeljack, who had come to greet Sam and meet Poppy. They tumbled away from the humans and the rest of the trine as Cosmos transformed and joined the fight.

"How did you know that?" The meld laughed. "I'll kill her if you hurt Skywarp!" The seeker aimed at Poppy, who was aiming at him.

"She is much more likely to kill you," the meld growled. "No, Poppy, leave the Screamer alone for now, he's acting against orders. Why are you here? What do you want from me?" By this time Thundercracker was subdued by the two Autobots and all of them were listening.

"Skywarp," Starscream said, and reached for his arm. Poppy burned him briefly again. "No! Wait! Skywarp's blind, and if we can't get the optics fixed, my brother will be abandoned-I can't lose my brother again. Hook's in no shape to fix anyone after what Lord Megatron did when we found you gone. Please, we'll do anything." Thundercracker nodded.

"You will do as I tell you," the meld said, and Starscream and Thundercracker both stilled as Skywarp had. "Have the sense to follow your orders next time," Sam said after a moment, and stepped back, drawing Poppy with him. The two Decepticons were gone. Then Skywarp came and grabbed Thundercracker before both of them were gone. Sam slumped within the ball as Cosmos and Wheeljack snatched up the two humans, cursing at losing the trine.

"Don't worry, they won't be back," Sam said, as he was carried inside, too tired to try to stand or even move much.

"Why did you let them go?" Cosmos wailed. Poppy joined in the complaint.

"Do you question me?" the meld snarled. Everyone shut up and got Sam to the lab. He got out of the ball and said, "Sorry, guys. When something comes to me for healing, the presence rarely says no. It also reprogrammed them-remember, they said they'd do anything to get Skywarp healed, so they gave us permission. "

That information calmed the bots down; Poppy grumbled under her breath but otherwise bullied Sam into bed and came out cheerful, ready for the attention the space bots were more than happy to give her. Only Perceptor, staying behind to work and in case Sam needed anything, wondered, "Reprogrammed them to do what?"


	10. Chapter 10

Final Project Chapter 10

I do not own Transformers, and never will.

This ends the story arc. Hope you enjoyed the set. I may rewrite this at some point, but for now I will leave it, short as it is.

The Prime took the package Poppy handed him. "So the risk in Sam returning is worse, not better." She nodded. "This is the device?"

"Yep." She sighed, leaning over the rail of the balcony. "The lower gravity and the presence are enabling him to function about like he did when he was here, but here he would be on constant oxygen, and even with that, he'd be pretty sick most of the time. The presence said that it can't sustain him like he is much longer, and that this project must be finished. It didn't say it couldn't keep him alive, but it can't keep him functioning well enough to work if he comes home, and it can't promise to keep him alive on the trip." She was able to say that calmly only because she had time to come to terms with the matter. "But after we kicked Starscream's tail-"

"Go over that with me again," Optimus interrupted. Poppy did. "Sam said they reprogrammed the trine? To do what?"

"I didn't dare ask," Poppy admitted, and paced a little. "I mean, the presence didn't come out again, and Dad seemed more himself, so the device is working. And I thought about it, Optimus. On the time scale of the presence, 'much longer' probably does mean a few more years. And it did say that they would get a chance to say goodbye before they left." She grinned. "And it seems to have picked up a few human vices. It likes chocolate, and it says it has a hard time not being annoyed with its children for making stupid choices. Just like a lot of fathers. "

She snickered at the chagrin in Optimus' body language. "And it said that it was partly responsible for the birth of my brothers because the emotions Dad was feeling were pleasant when they were conceived." At that the Prime broke into laughter with her. She trotted off to deliver a few messages to and from other bots. Sam told her to talk to Bumblebee as soon as possible and pass on some choice jokes.

Optimus went to the prototype's new home and placed the device on it. Light flared, and after a time it died.

"What was that?" Ratchet said, hurrying in.

"That is your device," Optimus informed the medic. They took a closer look at the prototype. It was larger, and the glyphs were clearer. The device was no longer there. "Was your device." They left, and Optimus passed on Poppy's report. "I miss him," the Prime admitted. "I know we have the others, Minnie and Annabelle and Bert are all doing fine jobs, but I miss Sam."

"We all do," Ratchet said, "but at least we know he's alive and working. What would the All-Spark have reprogrammed Starscream's trine to do?"

"That seems to be the question of the day." Optimus said.

* * *

The device worked, but not perfectly. Wheeljack was thinking hard about the next step on his device and missed a meteor coming right at him. The others hauled the engineer to the lab. Sam was waiting, but so was Red Alert, who got in his way.

"Sam, are you sure you should-"the security leader said, mindful of Ratchet's warnings.

"_Get out of my way_!" the meld snarled, and the voice echoed through the lab and was heard halfway through the core. Red Alert, no coward, deemed that being elsewhere was the better part of valor, and so missed hearing the lecture Wheeljack got during his healing about careless idiots who thought more about their experiments than their body's integrity. Perceptor recorded it and played it back periodically when he needed the laugh or when he wanted to embarrass either Sam or Wheeljack.

Swoop visited regularly, but did not try to take Sam to the neutral base until Bumblebee came up, six months later. The visit cheered Sam up immensely. Bumblebee came home with cheerful stories, and saddened. Bee could see Sam was working, and the progress on both devices was progressing steadily, but the faithful bot could also see that Sam was tired.

On the visit to the neutral's base, Bumblebee saw a huge ship being built, and wondered why. Finally the yellow bot asked. Swoop explained that he was obeying the All-Spark's wish. Unimpressed, Bumblebee challenged, "And how do you know that?"

"You have no right to question him," Sam said, and Bee whipped around to look at him. Being Sam's closest friend for most of a vorn, he knew that his friend did not make that statement. "He is following my guidance. Just as Sam is."

"If you cared about Sam…" Bumblebee said hotly, and was stopped by a raised hand and a feeling of power. The former guardian knew he was speaking to the All-Spark, but he did not take back his question.

"You sound like Poppy," the presence snorted. "For shame, you're hundreds of years older, you should know better." Bee could not help but think he sounded like a cranky grandparent. "I do care, and I gave him a choice when I was able. He made it, and he is abiding by it. Yes, I could send him home to die." Both Swoop and Bumblebee winced at the bluntness. "Truth is often ugly, children. " That earned him a nasty took from the priest and the scout. "But Sam would prefer to live his last years working on a project that will mean the ability to make wider choices that his friends would otherwise be able to make, than sitting at home, being cared for and unable to do anything at all. Support him."

"I will," Bumblebee mumbled.

"Oh, Bee, don't be like that. I'm okay, really I am." Sam leaned against his friend, and Bumblebee made an effort and responded to the attempted comfort.

A year passed, and Minnie came up with Bluestreak. She and Wheeljack got along wonderfully well, but she argued with Cliffjumper and called him a ninny when it snipped at Bluestreak. The bot left in a huff and only returned after she left, which cheered up the rest of the base no end. Somehow her questions and observations gave Wheeljack a better perspective on how to curb his elaborations. Sam e-mailed her later to say she probably speeded up his completion date by a year.

Oscar came up the next year, bringing Ironhide. Ronnie resigned from NEST and was working with Annabelle. Ironhide told Sam privately that he might take over from her in a few years. Her other assistant was not a leader. Oscar was acting as the human liaison now, though Ironhide did not think he was doing as good a job.

Sam was well aware that other eyes watched. The Decepticons were conspicuous by their absence. Searcher, who was happily settled on Earth, gifted Swoop with means to spy effectively on Megatron and some of his minions. Swoop shared the information with Sam and let him decide what to tell the others. Everyone in the base knew that Megatron almost killed Hook for what it did to Sam, and for not talking about his contact at the human prison colony. The prison was disbanded, and a thriving industrial colony was beginning. Red Alert kept an optic on the place.

Sam carried an energon cube to Red Alert when he came to talk to Sam about his next supply shipment. The security bot sipped at it while talking. Right before it left, it asked, "Hey, this tastes a little different."

"Guess what," Perceptor said smugly. Red Alert almost dropped the cube. "Yep. Second glass. I got the first one, and I beat Wheeljack." He grinned. "Wonder who won the pool."

"Mine's working," Wheeljack said, annoyed. "It just hasn't made a full batch. When I do, I'll throw a party, see if I don't." Sam just smiled. Red Alert thought the smile looked a little strained, but decided not to bring the matter up as the two scientists started arguing which machine the neutrals would get. He went to get word to Optimus.

Optimus ruled that Swoop could choose which energon machine the neutrals got. Swoop deferred to Sam and agreed to come over to the party Perceptor and Wheeljack were organizing.

"You'll be ready," Sam said. Swoop nodded. They were at the window, looking out. "You see that asteroid there? It hasn't moved in several days."

"Ah. I wondered where the lookout was. Have you told Red Alert?" Sam nodded. "So everyone will be ready. Our allies are already here. Everything will be coordinated by the time Wheeljack's machine has made enough energon for the party. "

They all gathered in the hall outside. Everyone was excited except Red Alert, who was muttering about safety and an expected Decepticon attack. Wheeljack called him a party pooper when he wasn't in hearing range, causing a blast of laughter. Everyone had a cup, and everyone sipped and talked and snickered. Sam was in his ball and by the window, looking out. Wheeljack saw Swoop slid over and murmur something to Sam that made him smile, before the dinobot excused himself to leave.

Then there was a crash. The entire room shuddered. Sam yelped as his ball rolled back from the window. As soon as he was clear, the window shattered. The entire room gulped energon (not even in battle situations did you waste good energon) and hauled out weapons as Megatron came through, snatching at Sam.

He was blown back by at least fifteen weapons at point-blank range. That gave the other Decepticons a chance to find a way into the asteroid, which they gleefully did, yakking about the stupidity of Autobots and the chance to get a source of energon.

At that time, they discovered that they were trapped between the Autobots inside the base, coming out, and the Dinobots who were coming up behind them. Grimlock landed on Megatron's back and proceeded to convince him that the attack was no surprise to anyone. Snarl, Slag, and Swoop, along with a few other neutrals, were targeting other Decepticons, while Sludge came into the hall and stood over Sam, poised to defend.

"Let me go when I tell you to," Sam told Sludge.

"What do you mean?" Just then Skywarp appeared, looking utterly lost. "Let me go," the meld repeated, "and warn Optimus that I'm coming, with a unwelcome guest." With that he moved just far enough from Sludge that Skywarp could reach him. Sludge was sending the message, distressed, when they disappeared.

Wheeljack put the neutral's machine in Cosmos and the shuttle took off. Swoop and the other neutrals followed. Megatron sent Starscream and Thundercracker after them. The Seekers followed, but they did not attack or fire, and when they were out of sight of the asteroid, they left. Cosmos delivered the machine safely to the base, and headed back, wondering what they were going to do with that big ship. By the time the shuttle returned, the battle was over.

"What do you mean, Sludge?" Optimus Prime was standing just outside the shield to the base when he got the message from a very upset Sludge. Ironhide was standing beside his Prime, sputtering.

"That's all he said, and then he moved to where Skywarp could get to him and they were gone!" On the word, the air in front of the Prime shimmered, and Skywarp appeared. The teleporter was carrying Sam, still in the space ball. Optimus grabbed the ball as Skywarp collapsed. Ironhide was on him the next moment, securing the Decepticon and hauling it into the shield, heading for the brig as fast as the weapon's specialist could haul.

"Get us to the prototype," Sam said, gasping between words. Optimus moved, sending a comm as he went. The Prime released the ball and threw it aside, not caring at that point where it fell, and got to the prototype's room in record time. He set the heaving human by the door. Sam staggered the few steps to the prototype.

Light flared. The Prime had to turn away from the brightness. He saw Bumblebee, carrying Ronnie and Poppy. When the light died down, all of them rushed into the room.

They could not see Sam.

Then beside the prototype were two forms. One was a young man, with dark hair, bright eyes, and a mischievous smile; the other was simply light. "Sam?" Bumblebee said. Optimus echoed him, voice very soft. It was the Sam that revived Optimus standing there, just beyond his gawky youth.

"Sorry, guys," Sam said. "We pushed the limits pretty hard to get here on time. If everything went right, Swoop and the others have their machines."

"But Skywarp can't teleport this far!" Bumblebee blurted out. "How?"

"We gave him a major boost. Poppy remembers when we healed Skywarp." She nodded, tears running down her face. "The trine was reprogrammed to help us finish the project and allow the machines to stay with who we gave them to. They'll be back to their normal obnoxious selves after that. You can kill Starscream now, Poppy." She laughed through her tears.

**"Prime, I am not staying, but I do leave you the means to reproduce**," the light said. "**This is a matrix, the Matrix of Sparks, and the prototype, which is a Cube and holds the information we have downloaded into it. I am going back to Cybertron.**"

"The ship," Optimus said slowly. "That's why Swoop and the neutrals built the ship." The light pulsed.

"Y**ou will not take the war back to Cybertron**," it said, and the voice was final. "**You will return, in time, but it must have more time to recover. I go to speed that recovery. Sam**. "

"Poppy, Ronnie, I did want to say good-bye, but I have to go. Your mother is waiting for me. Don't mourn. I am part of this," he indicated the new Cube. "Everything in my lifetime, from my first milk belch to my last problem with constipation," Ronnie choked, his own tears streaming, "is on that thing, and that means that in a way, I'm immortal. Oh, and ask Jimmie about your baby sister."

With that parting shot, they were gone.

Looking up at Optimus, fire starting in her eye, Poppy said, "Did he say baby sister?"

"He did, " Ronnie said grimly. "What baby sister?"

"Ask Jimmie," Optimus said hastily. Bumblebee was already gone.

_**Epilogue**_

They still held a memorial service. The official story was that Sam died on the base, and was cremated to facilitate returning the remains home. Jimmie contacted Belinda and she came home for the service, bringing Mikaela and explanations. Optimus marveled how the child seemed to cheer the older siblings, though they respected the mother and adoptive father's wishes and did not confuse her with the truth about her parentage. As Belinda said, that could wait until she was old enough to understand.

Changeling became Wheeljack's apprentice and helped build both his own second frame and the first sparkling body. The Matrix of Sparks gave the first sparkling years after Sam died. The Decepticons moved further away in space, and the Autobot's space base grew until there were almost no Autobots left on Earth. NEST was taken over by the United Nations. Ronnie took over the company when Annabelle retired five years after Sam's death.

The neutrals were gone and not seen again in human space. The Autobots took over the base when their own was overwhelmed by the bots coming from Earth.

And in a area no living human or cybertronian could ever detect, a young couple met again.

_You waited long enough to get here. _The woman laughed.

_I had things to do._ The man took her in his arms and smiled down at her.

_Yeah, well, it's time and more than time to move on. I missed you, you dork._They shared an easy kiss.

_I missed you like you will never believe. _For a long time they just held each other.

_You have time to show me now._ They moved off into the mist.

_Yeah. All the time in the_ _universe. _


End file.
